The Little Hyuuga Boy
by HannahGallifrey
Summary: ***REVISION ONGOING***This is an attempt to 'keep the NejiTen ship afloat' while as much as possible respecting major plot points of the base story.If I have gotten any details wrong, please tell me! also, fair warning, this is intended to be sad/somewhat depressing. though there are also a few scenes designed to offer a warm, fuzzy feeling.
1. A Dream Become Reality

A/N: ATTENTION. THIS IS UNDER THE PROCESS OF REWRITING. CHECK THE BOTTOM OF EACH CHAPTER TO SEE WHERE THE REVISION ENDS. APOLOGIES FOR THE MESS (AND THE YELLING). Hi guys! I really liked this story when I wrote it a couple years ago, but obviously I was a bit overzealous about it and didn't really plot it out or think it through. I showed it to one of my friends that is _waaaay_ more into Naruto than I am, and realized how cringe-worthy it really was, so I've decided to improve it. It's going to be pretty messy until the revision is complete, so like I said, check for the author's note at the bottom of the chapter to see where the revision ends. Happy reading! Please feel free to review and point out any improvements I still need to make or any mistakes I have overlooked, so I can address them!

* * *

TenTen was sitting apart from most of the camps, not wanting to socialize. The fighting in the Shinobi alliance had been brutal this past while, and she had already seen many comrades fall beside her. She counted herself lucky she had not been among them. The young woman sighed, unrolling and examining her main weapons scroll, checking once again that it was in perfect condition, ready to surrender its weapons at a moment's notice. It wasn't necessary, of course, but it made her feel better, at least.

After re-rolling the scroll and putting it to the side, she sighed again. There was no way of knowing who might die tomorrow. It all kept getting even more dangerous every day. She could not bear the thought of losing her teammates. Neji was too skilled to fall, surely, and Lee…Lee was far too stubborn to die.

"What's wrong?" A mellow voice asked from slightly behind TenTen. She didn't jump, as she knew he was there.

"Nothing," She replied simply. How could she even try to explain her feelings, after all? And why should he care?

She turned her head in slight surprise at the sound of shifting sand and gravel as Neji Hyūga settled cross-legged beside her, a very faint frown on his face and something like concern in his pupil-less white eyes. "I don't believe you."

She scoffed. "What is there to believe?" She asked, looking away from him, into the distance in front of them. "Nothing is wrong, except for this war we're fighting in. We've already lost so many…allies, friends…and we will lose more before this is over. I only hope we aren't counted among the victorious dead." She glanced back to see him nod once, rather slowly.

"TenTen," He said, "We face the threat of death every day as shinobi. This is no different. It is a far bigger battle than a normal mission, and there will be casualties. Those casualties are just as likely to be us as any other shinobi." She looked away again, not wanting to glare at him. Damned Hyūga, how could he be so calm about all this? It just seemed like he didn't understand, somehow. She shivered slightly as a cold desert breeze blew rather suddenly across the area the alliance was camped in.

TenTen sat up in slight surprise at the feeling of a warm arm across her shoulders and turned back to her teammate, who wanted to offer her comfort. "The more you fear something, the more power you give it over you," He informed her with gentle matter-of-factness.

"So you've told me. But it isn't just that." She paused as her heart sped up a bit at the thoughts that suddenly intruded, running across her mind and leaving rather dirty footprints. _I've been interested in him for some time now, but there's no way I could ever ask anything like that of him…especially…THAT._ She looked away and swallowed, trying to calm herself before he got more concerned, or suspicious. _We're teammates, it's wildly inappropriate!_

"TenTen?"

"It's not…it's not dying that scares me all that much," She explained, exhaling sharply at the end of her sentence. "I'm not really afraid of dying. I'm afraid of not getting to really live." She hoped he might understand, but it was rather obvious that he didn't. "There are so many things I want to experience that I never will if I die in this fight," She elaborated. "Like marriage, and motherhood. I want to send my son or daughter off to the academy like my mother did, I want to have a husband and know what it's like to…you know…" She trailed off, unwilling to quite say the words. That was just too much.

There were several beats of silence and TenTen closed her eyes, unwilling to look at his face, certain his realization might turn to disgust. She was certain he never thought about such things. To her surprise, the next thing that happened was a gentle squeeze of the arm that was still across her shoulders, pulling her closer to him so she could easily feel the heat of his body—there was not a millimeter left between them, except the bulky flak jackets they both wore.

"In a way," He said, glancing to her as she looked at him with slight surprise, "you fear a loss of freedom, and that I can understand." He offered a tiny smile. "There is no way to experience all the things you mentioned in a single night. But, I can think of one or two things…"

Her surprise and guilt spiked instantly, and it was Neji's turn to also look surprised at her reaction. He'd partly been joking, but she had been entirely serious. "The real question, I believe, TenTen, is if you already have someone in mind for that task?" The bun-headed kunoichi actually jumped guiltily and blushed, telling Neji everything he needed to know without actually saying a word.

"Well…I was—" She began to stammer out, only to be silenced by gentle lips on hers. "h-hoping…you." Neji offered another gentle, faint smile, one that showed far more in his eyes than the rest of his face. She had no idea he had ever felt the same way.

Neji put a gentle hand on TenTen's cheek, holding up her head so she wouldn't look away from him shyly. "I didn't know you felt this way also," He told her softly. "I was going to wait until this was over before courting you, if you chose to accept it." She smiled much more widely. "Well, you don't have to court me. I'm yours." _Did I really just say that?_

The hyūga man looked around quickly, seeing they were entirely alone with no one nearby to bother them. Lee and Guy were already asleep, most importantly. He let her go and took off his flak jacket, discarding it to the gravelly ground almost carelessly before offering his hand with a larger smile.

"What are we waiting for?"

* * *

TenTen sat bolt upright, sweating and shaking, forgetting for a moment where she was in the darkness. As her eyes adjusted, showing her the familiar surroundings of her room, her heart slowed and her breathing eased as she realized it had only been a dream, or a memory, anyway. Ordinarily, she would have considered a dream like that to be a happy one, but not anymore. Not since Neji…

Not since Neji died.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. It was not the first time she'd had that dream since the end of the battle with the ten-tails. At least this time it had ended long before the worst part happened—the memory of Neji jumping in front of the spikes and being impaled to save Naruto and Hinata, and dying in Naruto's arms. She hated herself for being farther away, unable to stop him or help him. She missed him terribly.

TenTen shifted to sit at the edge of her bed for a moment before giving up and getting up to make herself some tea, knowing she wasn't going back to sleep tonight. While the kettle heated, she leaned against the counter in the light of her lamp, not bothering with all the lights, as it was still the middle of the night. The battle had barely ended less than two weeks ago, and the hospital was still packed, as it would be for months. The cemetery had many new graves, and she regretted every one. Especially the one that was marked 日向 ネジ。

Her mind turned away from those thoughts, going back to wondering what had woken her. Something must have, since she was a sound sleeper, and the dream had never let her out early before. She tried to think back through the rapidly fading details. Just as He had reached to push up her uniform shirt, something had poked her sharply in the stomach, a bit like the feeling of being poked by a senbon. It wasn't a part of the dream. She went back and checked her bed thoroughly, making sure there were no errant weapons she had forgotten to put away or something, but there was nothing that could have poked her anywhere. How strange.

TenTen jumped as the kettle whistled and quickly shut it off, pouring herself the water and brewing the tea, trying to relax. It was nothing, that was all. Just her mind playing tricks. She took a sip of tea and sat down at her table, looking into the cup. Maybe, soon, she would be brave enough to go and see his grave. But not now. It was still too fresh for her to accept.


	2. The Worst Good News

A/N: Sorry, everyone, that the numbering system of the chapters is going to be a bit off until the revision is done. Some of the 'chapters' from the original are just far too pointlessly short, so the revised chapters sometimes comprise several former chapters. I hope everyone enjoyed chapter 1? I haven't heard any feedback yet, sadly…

* * *

Over the next two weeks, try as she might, life continued to be…sort of 'off'…for the kunoichi. It was never any one thing she could put her finger on, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was different that shouldn't be. She just chalked it up to the continuing aftermath of the battle and her frayed nerves and mourning of her lost teammate, and the loss of the promise of more that she should have had. It was unfair that Neji had been taken from them, even if he was only one of many to the eyes of most of the village.

TenTen tried everything she could—training harder and longer, spending a whole day resting, even arranging flowers, which she didn't much care for—but nothing she did could shake that off feeling. Since that night that she'd been unable to go back to sleep, she felt perpetually tired, grouchy and a bit hungrier than usual, though she didn't indulge in more sleep or food. She hardly wanted to get out of shape. But when she got up on the day of the one-month anniversary of the battle and started to make herself breakfast, she suddenly found herself gagging at the smell of her favorite food. She ate it almost every day, but suddenly it was the worst scent she'd ever experienced. She quickly shut off the burner and put the mostly-finished food aside so it wouldn't burn, took out the trash after leaving her stomach in it, and stood in the cold morning air to calm her sweating and trembling.

"That's it," She said firmly, looking into the distance to where she could see the hospital over the roofs of Konoha. "I can't wait any longer."

In truth, it wasn't only the cemetery that TenTen had been avoiding this past month, but also Konoha's packed hospital, where plenty of people she knew were still recovering. She wasn't looking closely where she was going as she went inside, aiming for the orderlies' desk so she could check in, and as a result, she ran rather hard into Naruto himself. He seemed as surprised as she was and caught her gently by the upper arms, keeping her from falling.

"Hey, TenTen, who are you coming to visit?" He asked politely, quickly letting her go as soon as he could see she was properly balanced again. TenTen was unsurprised to see Hinata with Naruto; from what she'd heard, they'd been practically inseparable since the return to the village. The bun-headed woman shook her head gently.

"Not visiting," She corrected him. "Checking in…I think maybe I should have a while ago." These words immediately worried the blonde young man, and he asked what was wrong. TenTen looked just fine to him, and she'd made it through the battle virtually unscathed, unlike plenty of others…

"I don't know," She admitted honestly. "I think I might have some sort of internal damage I didn't know about before. I just need checked. Maybe it's nothing after all." She shrugged and stepped past him to the orderlies' desk. "Excuse me, Naruto, and say Hi to the others for me."

After explaining the odd happenings of the previous few days to the admitting nurse, she was shown to a room and asked to sit on an exam bed to wait for one of the overworked doctors to get the chance to come see her. She sat with a clipboard and pen, filling out the papers that they required every time anyone checked into the hospital, pausing at a particular set of questions when the answer did not supply itself.

 _What was the first day of your last menstrual cycle?_

It troubled TenTen that she couldn't remember, but not too much. Stress could change or stop a woman's cycle completely, and she'd certainly been under plenty of stress. She gave her best guess—maybe 2 weeks before the ten-tails battle?—and moved on, skipping the 'sexual history' part like always without even really thinking about it. She sat waiting nervously for another good half hour, fidgeting and fighting the urge to get up and pace. She was starting to think they'd forgotten she was even there when a young female doctor finally came in, apologizing profusely for the wait.

"It's okay," She assured the doctor, who took the papers from TenTen and started reading through them before asking questions about her symptoms. The kunoichi explained her fatigue and how long it had been going on, and the sudden bout of sickness over what was once her favorite food, "It came on very suddenly and unexpectedly," She sighed in confusion. "The fatigue wasn't bad enough to trouble coming in, but that certainly was."

The young doctor nodded, reviewing the history TenTen had filled out. "Your last period was 6 weeks ago?" She asked.

"As far as I can remember, yes. But I've never been very regular to begin with." She shifted nervously. "And since the battle, we've all been under a lot of stress."

"Of course, but I have to ask anyway—is there a chance you could be pregnant?"

"No, of course no-" She began, then stopped. "Well…actually…"

"Is that a yes or a no, TenTen? Could you be pregnant? Is there any chance, any at all?"

"I…I mean…" She stammered, "I have, um, I have done _that_ before. But just once. I honestly forgot. I guess…well, I guess it is possible…just barely."

The Doctor smiled in a reassuring way. "It's all right. It's a required question, but if you're worried about it, we can give you a test to check. In fact, since your menstrual cycle isn't regular, I have to anyway. I promise I'll be right back."

TenTen sighed in worry, but didn't have long enough to think too much about it before the doctor returned with a pregnancy test. "Just follow the instructions on the box and bring it back to me, please," She said cheerfully, handing it over. The bun-headed woman took the test to the bathroom with her and returned with it, handing it back to the doctor, who set a timer and waited to read the results. TenTen was suddenly very concerned with the broad smile that spread on the doctor's face. "I have good news," She began.

 _Please say it's negative, please say it's—_

"Positive. Congratulations, TenTen, you're pregnant!"

The doctor was taken aback by the woman's sudden grief and alarm at the news. TenTen started to cry and hugged herself, arms around her stomach. "TenTen? Should I get someone?"

"I…I…y-yes, please," She said, trying to wipe her eyes quickly. The doctor handed her a tissue box and hurried out, knowing just who to fetch. Luckily, she had just arrived, as she liked to visit the most injured patients every day and do what she could to help.

TenTen sat up sharply at the distinctive clacking of heels on the hard floor and quickly wiped her eyes. "Tsunade-sama!"

"TenTen, what's wrong? You're acting so strangely. Surely this is happy news. Even if it isn't, it's hardly the end of the world!"

"N-nothing's wrong, Tsunade-sama. I swear. I'm fine."

"Clearly you aren't," The Hokage scoffed, putting a hand on her hip. "Come on, tell me. What is it?"

"I…I can't…"

"Tell me. I'm a very busy woman, TenTen."

She took a deep, shaky breath and managed to stammer out, "The baby…It's," She swallowed thickly, "It's Neji's, Tsunade-sama."

* * *

A/N: current end of revision


	3. Chapter 4

Tsunade contemplated this for a moment, now understanding the young woman's distress and grief. She reached gently forward and took Tenten's hand in her own. 'Tenten,' she murmured in a low, gentle tone, 'you don't have to go through with this if you don't want to. We can always-'

'WHAT?!' Tenten was on her feet in an instant, standing facing the Hokage with a half-mortified, half-murderous expression. 'How _dare_ you suggest such a thing!' she shrieked, arms wrapped protectively over her stomach. 'You think I could _ever_ do something so callous to Neji's child?! How _dare_ you!'

'Calm down!' Tsunade cried, standing as well and putting her hands out to calm the girl, who had evidently decided on murderous. 'I wasn't saying you had to, Tenten! I never would!'

Tenten continued to glare at Tsunade distrustfully, not moving. 'What do you suggest, then?'

'Well,' Tsunade said, now choosing her words with great care, 'Since it is your choice to keep Neji Hyuuga's child, you need to inform the Hyuuga clan ot your pregnancy so they can prepare.'

This stopped Tenten cold. Would they accept an illegitimate child into the clan, even if it was the child of a deceased genius? The Hyuuga kekkei genkai flowed most strongly in Neji's blood, they said, so odds were good that his child would be strong. Still, Tenten worried of Hiashi's reaction to the news. It would be mixed, at best.

'But…' Tenten whimpered, 'How do I do that? They'll never accept the baby as legitimate, even as a branch house member, they'll never take them!' her voice rose toward the end.

Tsunade turned sympathetic eyes on the pregnant woman's plight. 'I'll give you another six weeks,' she informed Tenten. 'Then I'll go with you to the Hyuuga estate, once your proof is irrefutable.' She gestured to Tenten's stomach.


	4. Chapter 5

Six weeks later, there was a knock on Tenten's door. It was now late December, almost the new year, and Konoha was as cold as it ever got. She rose from the table to answer the door, giving her too-large house jacket a quick tug to make sure it covered the subtle bulge that was just starting to form.

Tsunade stood in the doorway and Tenten started in surprise. 'That's today?' she asked, swallowing nervously and placing a hand protectively over the baby bump.

'I'm afraid so,' Tsunade answered, motioning for Tenten to follow her after she put on a proper coat. 'Should I dress up or anything?' Tenten asked as she slid an arm into a sleeve.

'You're going with me. Dressing up would be trying too hard.' Tenten couldn't help but think that trying too hard might be just what was needed in such a delicate situation. 'ready? Let's go.'

The pair of them trudged out into the cold air and blustering wind that threatened rain from the iron-grey sky. Tenten shivered and pulled her jacket even tighter around her, putting her head down to walk against the wind.

When they reached the gate of the estate and knocked, the gate was immediately opened. 'Tsunade-Sama!' a branch house member gave a bow as he saw the Hokage. 'please, come in and warm up. I will fetch Hiashi-Sama for you.' He then noticed Tenten behind the older woman as she stepped inside, and Tenten herself had to do a double take at neji's cousing. For a moment, she saw Neji himself, standing there to greet her, and almost blurted his name, but stopped just in time, her mouth slightly open. 'please, Lady, come in,' he said to her, gesturing toward the house where a small brazier was alight. She shut her mouth and nodded, following Tsunade through the gate and into the building, warming her hands at the brazier.

A few moments later, the inner door slid open and Hiashi Hyuuga entered the room, seating himself beside the brazier and across from the two women.

'You needed something, Hokage-Sama?' he queried, looking to the blonde Sannin. 'Urgently, too, if you're making a house call.' He regarded Tenten momentarily, then turned his attention back to the first woman.

'I don't need anything from you,' Tsunade set the record straight. This momentarily confused Hiashi, but she wasn't finished. 'Tenten has business with you. I am only here as mediator and…moral support.' This intrigued the Hyuuga clan leader, and her turned back to the girl with fresh interest in his white eyes.

'And what business is this?'

Tenten swallowed hard, looking at her knees. Visible to her also was her baby bump, though her clothing concealed it still from others. 'Lord Hiashi, I'm pregnant,' she managed after a moment of loaded silence.

'Well, that's wonderful news, Tenten, but I fail to see what-'

'it's Neji's, Sir.'

There was a moment of profound silence after her confession.

'…and…you're certain of this?' Hiashi asked, eyes wide in shock at the announcement. She nodded mutely, a few tears falling in her lap.

'He was my first, Sir, and my only. On the eve of the ten-tails battle.'

'That was two and a half months ago! Why have you not come sooner?' Hiashi demanded, making Tenten flinch.

Tsunade stepped in then, sitting up straighter. 'We wanted to be sure you wouldn't disbelieve her claim because she had no proof,' she defended. 'Tenten,' she said making the young woman jump again, 'Stand up, turn to the side, and tuck in your shirt.' Tenten did so immediately, revealing the tiny but every-growing bump. Veins bulged beside Hiashi's eyes as he took and even closer look, relaxing and nodding to himself after a moment.

'Without a doubt, you are with child by a Hyuuga,' he said in a rather heavy tone. He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly, expression grave. 'I cannot fathom how Neji could have been so irresponsible as to do this.'

'Please, Lord Hiashi, it was my fault. I begged him to do as he did. I told him I feared dying without feeling a lover's embrace…he obliged me. Perhaps he felt the same.' She finally looked up, surprised to see grief in Hiashi's eyes. He had cared deeply for his nephew and Tenten hadn't realized how much his loss must have hurt Hiashi. 'after the war, I believe he intended to marry me.' At this, he gave a slow nod, and tenten sat back down on the mat by the brazier.


	5. Chapter 6

'Well?' Tenten queried after a few moments' silence, broken only by the faint crackles of the brazier between her and the Hyuuga family head. 'Will you take the child in, since you know he is a Hyuuga?'

Hiashi shifted a little as if uncomfortable. 'It's not so simple as that, I'm afraid.' he let out a sigh and glanced up as the door slid open again, admitting hanabi. 'Father, the noon meal is ready,' she informed him, then, seeing the Hokage and Tenten sitting with him, apologized and quickly left, sliding the door shut again.

'Have you eaten?' he asked them, looking more to Tenten now than the Hokage. 'You're welcome to join us for a meal.'

'No, thank you, I've already eaten.' Tsunade just shook her head, and Tenten spoke again. 'You said "not so simple". What do you mean by that?' this caused the gentleman to shift again, looking for a moment into the flames of the brazier as if they held answers to questions he could not put voice to.

'It's a matter of legitimacy, and honor,' Hiashi said at length, still looking at the brazier instead of the women. 'Because you weren't married, the child is not a clan member by name, but by blood only. And as the offending clan member cannot be brought to remedy the situation through no fault of his own, something else must be done.' finally, he looked up, addressing the Hokage. 'Tsunade-Sama, what do you suggest we do? Such a situation is beyond rare.'

Tsunade thought for a few moments, then gave a small nod. 'I have an idea.'

'Oh? Care to share it?' Tenten asked, looking eager.

'We could do a wedding by proxy- with a stand-in acting in place of Neji. As you said, Hiashi-Sama, it's not truly his fault he isn't here to do it himself.'

Hiashi thought for a moment more, and nodded for himself. 'I will oversee the preparations, and we will hold the ceremony on new year's day.' he turned his white eyes on Tenten once more. 'is that acceptable, Tenten?' he asked the young woman, and she nodded in her turn, heart fluttering with nervousness, uncertainty. this wasn't what she had expected at all, but she would do far more if it meant that Neji's 'child would have what they deserved- every privilege and responsibility they would have received had Neji still been alive to marry her and provide them.


	6. Chapter 7

On New Year's Eve, Tenten couldn't sleep. She didn't want to go out and watch the fireworks at the festival or any of that, though at only 3 months along she would be perfectly covered in the festival kimono. The past 10 days had been busy ones, with Tenten seemingly in the middle of a tug-of-war as Tsunade and Lord Hiashi sorted out the particulars of the ceremony. It would be performed the very next day, and something about it just unsettled Tenten.

Sighing, Tenten turned away from the window, moving to the stove and picking up the warm kettle, making tea and sitting down at her table, taking a sip.

There was a knock on the door and Tenten jumped in surprise, not knowing who it might be. She got up again and answered the door, surprised to see Hinata in a festival kimono, arm raised to knock again. 'Oh, Tenten! I wanted to invite you to the festival.' Hinata gave a small bow and offered a smile, white eyes shining. 'I haven't seen you since you checked into the hospital a while ago- how are you doing?'

'I'm…doing well. In fact, I'm doing wonderful,' Tenten said, taking a deep breath to calm herself. If Lady Hinata didn't know yet, she would by tomorrow anyway; it would be best to tell her now. 'Hinata-Sama, I need to tell you something,' she began, and the young woman nodded, moving to step into tenten's room as the woman moved and motioned to the table.

'What is it? You are well?'

At this, Tenten gave a large, genuine smile and blurted, 'I'm pregnant!' Hinata's eyes widened in surprise before narrowing again in joy.

'That's wonderful news! But, may I ask- who is the father?' this was a puzzling thing, after all- it was rare at best to have someone with child who wasn't already married.

At the query- not unexpected, of course- Tenten's eyes fell to the table and she let out a deep, mournful sigh. 'Tenten-san, I didn't mean to upset you!' Hinata said, hurrying to apologize, but the woman held up a hand to stop her. 'No, it's all right. The father is Neji.' Hinata gasped at this news, both surprised and stricken with grief at the revelation. It was unfair enough that he had died, sacrificing himself for his friends, but to be unable to raise his child? It seemed the world's injustice knew no bounds for the branch house prodigy.

'Well,' Hinata said after a moment's silence, putting a hand on Tenten's shoulder. 'It is still wonderful news. Please, come with me and enjoy the festival. He wouldn't want you to hide at home and be unhappy.' Tenten looked up, nodding a bit, and finished her tea before getting to her feet, smoothing her sash and checking that the many layers of fabric kept her baby bump well hidden.

'So long as we come back before it's too late- I have to get up early tomorrow, so I can't stay up too late tonight.' Hinata nodded cheerfully and took Tenten by the hand, starting to lead her out to the festival. 'Oh, and one other thing, Hinata-Sama. Please don't tell anyone else that I'm pregnant. They'll all find out soon enough.'


	7. Chapter 8

After midnight, Tenten made it back home and quickly got ready for bed, putting a nightdress on and wrapping up in her blankets before shutting her eyes, worn out from the festival. Even so, sleep did not come easily. When it finally did embrace her, she slept without dreaming for a little while.

Then, finally, a dream did start, and Tenten smiled in her sleep as she saw the back of a person she knew very well. She hurried to the figure, catching their arm and turning them around before embracing them tightly. 'oh, I've missed you,' she told them, and strong, warm arms wrapped tenderly around her, drawing her closer. A hand smoothed the hair she'd let down for the night, and Tenten left her head against their chest, listening to the strongly beating heart.

After a moment, Tenten took a step back so she could look up into those familiar white eyes. 'Neji, why did you leave me?' she asked him, tears welling in her eyes. 'Do you know what's happened since you left us?'

In response, Neji simply gave a small smile and reached forward, placing a hand tenderly on Tenten's cheek, then shifting it down to her faintly swollen stomach. 'I know everything that matters most.' Then, he gave a small look of concern. 'Don't be so worried about this whole wedding thing. You're right, I was waiting until things were more stable before I asked your hand.' Saying this, he took her hand in his own and gave a very deep bow.

'Tenten-Sama, will you do me the honor of being my wife tomorrow?'

'I- what? Of course I will, Neji. Even without you asking I would have.' She gave him a sweet smile as he straightened up again, beaming at her. 'Promise me you'll be watching tomorrow. Promise you'll be there for me!' she pleaded suddenly, tears welling in her grey eyes again.

He squeezed her hands gently and embraced her briefly once more, giving a very light kiss atop her head before stepping back. He nodded once. 'I will. I think it's time for you to get dressed.' With that, he turned and took a few steps, vanishing into the light that quickly drew Tenten to morning with a gasp of surprise.


	8. Chapter 9

The morning had dawned a cold one. Tenten sat up and gave a slight shiver, pulling the blanket around her. What a vivid dream she had just experienced! She reached with a shaky hand to touch the spot on her head that he'd kissed before disappearing. She gave a watery smile. He'd asked her to marry him…

Oh! The ceremony! She had to start getting ready! Tenten jumped quickly out of her bed and crossed to where her borrowed clothes were, taking them from their hangars and laying them out on the bed. She started to reach for the padding that she normally wore under a kimono to create the straight line from underarm to hip, but looked down at her slightly swollen stomach and realized she wouldn't really need it. She gave a sigh, shaking her head with a small smile. So many little inconveniences for such a great blessing.

After bathing, she put on her wedding attire and put up her hair, taking her time to get everything right. Once it was all straightened, she put a large cloak on for the short trip to the Hyuuga estate, where the ceremony was to take place.

The gate was already opened when she arrived, and one of the clan members was waiting for her nearby. They offered their arm and led the bride to be to another part of the grounds, where a gate had been constructed from red-painted wood.

There, standing under and slightly behind the painted archway, stood Neji's cousin, the one Tenten had met a short time ago. His face had been painted white, along with his hands, and there were large black ovals painted around his eyes from cheekbone to eyebrow. He was also dressed entirely in a white set of wedding robes rather than the traditional black, and the kimono was tied right over left, in the style of a funeral. The overall effect was quite a jarring sight.

Tenten swallowed and strode down to stop in front of the archway, facing the stand-in who stood on the opposite side. Lord Hiashi and Lady Tsunade were both there, making sure that the ceremony went well.

'We are here today to join Tenten in marriage to the Hyuuga clan for and in behalf of Neji, Who is dead. If any would object, state your claim now.' No one watching moved or spoke, as all had been briefed of the situation and need for the ceremony. The officiator nodded and continued.

Neji's cousin reached through the gate, offering his hands, palms up, to Tenten, who placed her own hands palms down on top. The officiator began reciting the ceremony's words, intoning the phrase "who is dead" after every mention of Neji's name, making both Tenten and his cousin cringe at the repeated reminder. It had only been three months since his death, after all. When he finally got to the end, the "vows" were quite a bit differently worded than normal.

'You who speak for the deceased, do they vow to provide their name and honor to the bride, and does the family vow to support her all the days of her life, and her child also?'

Neji's cousin bowed his head and uttered a soft but clear, 'Yes.'

The officiator turned then to Tenten, the bride. 'And do you, Tenten, take the vow of Neji Hyuuga, who is dead, as binding, and vow to honor his name and serve his family, and also to raise and nurture his child until such time as you join him in death?' at this, Tenten's vision blurred with tears, and she bowed her own head, feeling the tears fall as she did so.

Before she could answer, she felt the lightest of touches of a warm hand laid across both of her own. Surprised, she looked up, but as soon as she did, the sensation vanished, and there was no one there. 'Tenten?' the Hyuuga queried, looking concerned.

'Oh! Yes, I do.'

The officiator nodded, looking relieved. 'Then by my authority I state these vows as binding. From now on, you shall be known as Tenten Hyuuga, the widow of Neji, and your child will be born the heir to the branch house, as their lineage dictates.' Tenten let out a sigh of relief and everyone let out a slow, seemingly solemn round of applause.


	9. Chapter 10

AN: there's a poll on my profile that concerns the fate of this story! if you want it finished the way you envision it, go and vote for your ending!

The days flowed past fairly uneventfully following the wedding ceremony, and not very much changed for Tenten with the exception of moving into the Hyuuga estate. She sat outside, enjoying the warm sun on the first week of March with her eyes closed and her face tilted up. She was five months through her pregnancy at this point, and the baby moved fairly often, surprising her sometimes.

Tenten took a deep breath of the early spring air, letting it out slowly. Tomorrow was her birthday, March 9, but the thought didn't really cheer her up like it used to. she opened her eyes and looked down with a little giggle at a fluttering sensation in her rounded belly, gently rubbing a hand on the spot with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. 'you're going to be so strong when you're born, aren't you, little one?' she asked the growing baby aloud. 'you're going to show us all up.'

'knowing the father, I don't doubt it in the slightest.'

Tenten looked up in surprise at the voice, which quickly turned to another smile. 'ah, hello Mamoru,' she greeted Neji's cousin, whose name she'd finally bothered to learn once she'd moved in. he gave her a friendly nod and sat down beside her on the low porch.

'Hanabi-Sama told me that your birthday is coming up soon,' he said, looking up at the fluffy clouds in the spring sky. 'I was wondering if you had any plans or anything you wanted to do to celebrate.'

Tenten shook her head, looking down with a small sigh. 'I don't feel like celebrating,' she mumbled in a low tone. 'After all, why should I get a birthday when He can't?'

'Now, Tenten-Sama, that's really no reason not to celebrate!' Mamoru chastised. 'and besides, the due date Tsunade-Sama gave you-'

'is Neji's birthday,' Tenten finished the sentence impatiently. 'so _everyone's_ told me. Too bad he isn't alive to receive his gift, isn't it?' she glared at the well-meaning Hyuuga with a bitter expression. 'please, I want to be alone for now. You may come and fetch me for the noon meal.'

Mamoru shifted. 'Tenten-Sama, that's why I'm here. it's five minutes to noon right now.'

Tenten looked up sharply in surprise. she gave a sniff, realising she could indeed smell the delicious scent of food wafting from nearby. 'My apologies!' she blurted, feeling quite rude. The Hyuuga gave a small, understanding smile, and shook his head to indicate no apology was needed. He stood, offering a hand to the pregnant woman, which she refused to take, as he knew she would.

Tenten let out a small sigh as she paced along the narrow wooden porch toward the door to the dining area of the compound with Mamoru in tow. it peeved her that certain clan members found it necessary to follow her around or check up on her, even escorting her if she went out on the town. she hadn't yet had the opportunity to confront Hiashi about it, and ask whether it was his doing or if the others had simply all decided to protect her on their own. Kami! she was pregnant, not an invalid or an inmate- she could take care of herself. Perhaps they didn't think so; or, perhaps, the child she carried was so precious to them all that they absolutely could risk no harm to them, and thus no harm could come to her. Tenten shook her head. she didn't have the answers. she gently slid the door open and stepped in, grinning at the sight and scent of her favorite food.


	10. Chapter 11

AN: I just need a couple more votes on the poll before I can write the ending! if you haven't voted (it's on my profile) please go do so!

March 9

Tenten woke at dawn on the day of her birthday with just one thing she really wanted to do. she climbed out of the single bed that had been in the room she'd moved into a few months prior and stretched a little, feeling the baby do the same before probably going back to sleep. It would be time for the morning meal soon, and she would make her birthday request there. Tenten gave a small sigh and slid the door open, stepping out into the hall and heading for the dining room.

'I want to go and see his grave.'

The announcement was met with a surprised silence by the others around the breakfast table. 'are you sure, Tenten-Sama? that doesn't seem a happy way to spend one's birthday,' Mamoru remarked, looking to his clanmates to back him up. There were nods on all sides.

All but one. Tenten glared momentarily at everyone before looking down at her food. 'I haven't been to see it yet. I haven't been strong enough. but I want to go now. and,' she said, looking up again and this time glaring at Hiashi, who raised his eyebrows in surprise, 'since I can't go anywhere without an escort anymore _apparently_ , I thought it would be proper to ask permission.' the clan leader gave a small cough behind his fist. whether it was meant as guilt or amusement at the pregnant woman's exasperation was lost on everyone there.

'I never stopped you from going anywhere,' Hiashi told her with the faintest of smiles showing only in his eyes. 'and I know you're plenty strong, Tenten. but please understand how much you and your child mean to the clan. all of your guards are perfectly willing- they're all volunteers for the job.'

'I still don't like that you didn't tell me.' Tenten shifted and took the last bite of her food. 'all right, who's going with me today?'

'as long as that's not the only place we're going, I will go with you,' piped Hanabi from a short ways down the table. several pairs of eyes looked to the 13-year old heiress incredulously.

'um...thanks, Hanabi-Sama. we'll spend most of the day in the village, of course. but I'd like to go to the grave first, if that's all right.' the girl nodded and Tenten stood, moving to the door. Hanabi got up to join her after a moment.

'...it's...so plain,' Tenten murmured, staring at the characters carved in the stone before her. _NEJI HYUUGA_ glared at her from the flat, slightly angled surface. in front were two sconces, for flowers or incense, and one looked empty while another held a few condolence flowers which were starting to wilt. Tenten wondered who had come and left them there. she knelt down by the empty sconce, preparing to put a flower in that she had brought along from the estate, when she noticed it wasn't actually empty after all. 'what's this?'

Hanabi looked at the tiny cylindrical item that Tenten pulled from the sconce. 'it looks like a small sealing scroll,' she observed, and Tenten nodded. 'I use ones just like these to carry my weapons- or, I used to, before all this.' she opened the scroll and unfurled it, noting it was only two feet long and had only one item sealed into it, with a rhyming couplet added along the side for decoration. it read something to the effect of " _do not kneel by my grave and cry; I am not here, but am alive._ "

Tenten recoiled in shock after reading the tiny poem, almost dropping the scroll. 'is this some kind of sick joke?!' she blurted, showing Hanabi, who likewise took a step back in disgust and surprise. 'now I have to know what's in here,' she said, striking the scroll's seal and revealing...a flower.

'ah,' Hanabi murmured at the sight of the white, cup-shaped blossom. 'it's a lotus. that's the flower for a baby born in july, like He was.'

Tenten scooped the lotus up in one hand, examining it with suspicion from all angles, but it was really just a flower. 'well...I guess I'll leave it here for him, then,' she murmured after a moment's thought, laying it gently in front of the grave. after a moment's hesitation, the picked up the scroll and rolled it up again, tucking it away. 'let's go- I think I want curry for lunch.'


	11. Chapter 12

It was a little over a week into May when anything eventful happened to Tenten again. She was 7 months pregnant now and felt as big as a house. She was sitting on the porch again, one of her favorite spots, staring up at the fluffy clouds as they sped by. As she watched, the clouds slowly grew greyer and plumper and started to move a little faster as the wind picked up. There was going to be a storm that evening, she could feel it. A small gust made Tenten shiver violently. She hadn't liked rainstorms for a long time now- it was too easy to think about bad topics while the wind rattled the walls and lightning flashed overhead. She was too alone with her thoughts in those times, especially at night.

As another, stronger gust blew, tugging at her sleeves and the buns in her hair, she stood up with a sigh and went indoors, just as the rain came sheeting down behind her. Since it was late afternoon now, it would probably rain like this all night, and maybe into the next day. She didn't look forward to trying to sleep tonight.

After the evening meal, Tenten retired to her room and stayed up for hours by the light of a lamp reading stories. She really didn't want to fall asleep, so she was determined that when she did, she would be tired enough that she wouldn't have any bad dreams. She lay in bed with her book held up in front of her and her elbows resting ever-so-lightly on her massive stomach. The baby would occasionally kick near one or the other of her elbows as if playing, but mostly it slept. Finally, feeling her eyes getting too heavy, Tenten set the book aside and put the lamp out, laying back and shutting her eyes.

Her precautions had been useless. Seemingly as soon as she had shut her eyes she found herself in a blank white space, standing on and surrounded by nothing but diffuse white light. How odd. But at least it wasn't so bad- it was just empty.

'There you are.'

At the sound of his voice, Tenten spun around in shock, stopping herself from taking a defensive stance. She couldn't help but smile a little. 'yes, I'm here,' she murmured, holding out her arms in invitation.

He accepted, pulling her into a momentary embrace. Then he held her at arm's length, looking at her belly with a fond smile. 'it won't be too long now, will it?' he asked, laying a hand gently on it and letting out a surprised laugh as the baby kicked.

'I wish you could be there for them,' Tenten said, tears welling in her eyes. 'I know why you did it, I understand, but it isn't fair how it all turned out!'

Neji gave a small, bittersweet smile and used his thumb to wipe away her tears before they could fall. 'what's done is done, and we can't change that now,' he told her gently. 'there's no use crying over things like this.'

'I-I will cry over whatever I very well please,' Tenten sniffled. 'you should be glad I don't punch you- you're solid enough right now.' Neji just gave a small huff of amusement, looking away for a moment so she wouldn't see how amusing he found the thought of her trying to hit him.

'would that make you happier?' he asked after a moment, letting her go and taking a step back, holding his arms out wide in invitation. 'go ahead- I won't stop you. I probably deserve it, don't I?'

Tenten's eyes widened in shock. _He really means it, doesn't he?_ But before she could tell him that wasn't really what she wanted, that she was just angry with him for no fair reason, he suddenly shifted, clutching at his chest as if in pain. Wincing, he put two fingers in his mouth and drew them out again covered in crimson. A sudden, pained cough covered the rest of his palm in blood. There was terror in his silver-white eyes as he met Tenten's frightened gaze.

'Neji, what's happening?' she asked, catching hold of him as he stumbled, taking a step back. 'you're gone already- you can't die again! Don't do this to me!' she wailed.

Something in Neji's gaze suddenly softened, as if he realised what was happening. 'don't worry, Tenten. I'll see you soon, all right?' he said, voice going raspy and bubbly with blood, some of it leaking from the corner of his mouth as it had that day…Neji suddenly flew backwards into a point of blackness, clearly not under his own power but for some reason looking serene…

'NEJIIII!' Tenten's fearful scream rang out in the early hours of the morning as she sat bolt upright in bed, shaking with horror and fear. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed outside the screened window as she sat panting, staring seemingly through the wall across the room from her.

Within seconds the door to her room was slid quickly open and one of her volunteer bodyguards hurried in, kunai in hand and byakugan activated, though they quickly relaxed when they realised it was only Tenten having a bad dream. 'Tenten-Sama, are you all right?'

Tenten took a very deep breath to settle herself, then turned to the woman, nodding a little. 'yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry to wake you and frighten you.'

The woman put the kunai away and nodded in return. 'would you like to talk? I find that sometimes helps with bad dreams.'

Tenten sighed. 'no, thank you. I would rather just sleep if I can.' She knew she wouldn't, but her guard didn't need to know that, or to worry about her. _I'll see you soon, all right?_ Neji had said before disappearing. _I'll hold you to that._


	12. Chapter 13

When the sun finally rose, it was hard to tell. Rain still lashed at the walls of the Hyuuga estate, and lightning and thunder still danced across the deep grey sky. _What a miserable day for mother's day_ , Tenten thought as she finally climbed out of bed to head for breakfast. Of course, she didn't have anyone to send flowers to, and she wasn't yet a mother to receive flowers, so it hardly mattered.

Everyone was eating breakfast together when one of the younger members of the clan dashed in, quite wet, having run from the front gate, still shut for the day. 'Hiashi-Sama, there's someone at the gate!' the young man blurted, making everyone look round at them with annoyance.

'who is it?' Hiashi asked in a level tone.

The young man shook his head. 'I have no idea, my lord. They are hooded and cloaked and speak with a rasp as an old man would. They inquired after Tenten-Sama, said that someone told them that she could be found here.' At this information, all the silver eyes in the room looked at Tenten, who looked at the messenger.

'can't you just look through his disguise? I thought you were good at that.'

The young man shook his head. 'he expressly forbade me and any clan member from using our Byakugan on him. I didn't want to risk it.'

Hiashi nodded. 'don't worry, you did the right thing. I'll meet the stranger myself, and see if it's safe for you, Tenten.' With that, he stood, leaving his breakfast only half-eaten, and followed the young man out into the pouring rain.

Hiashi opened the gate, looking suspiciously at the hooded figure standing before him. 'Hiashi-Sama, is Tenten here?' rasped an unrecognizable voice. Hiashi fought the urge to shiver. This wasn't the rasp of an old man as he had been told- not even if an old man smoked from the day he was born. No, this was the voice of a death rattle- someone who had recently been coughing blood.

'May I say who is calling?' he asked, fighting to keep his tone even.

'No, you may not,' the rasp replied simply. 'I wish only to see and speak with her. She may have one guard with her, and I will not touch her, you have my word.'

Hiashi did not like having conditions given to him by someone apparently without a face (it was, no doubt, a jutsu) but he saw no valid reason to deny the man his request. 'very well,' he said with a deep sigh, stepping aside. 'follow me. You will wait in an outer room while I fetch Tenten-Sama.' The faceless man gave a slight inclination of the head and followed the Clan Leader into the same room that Tenten had met with Hiashi months prior. The brazier, as then, was lit, and the man seated himself on the near side of it while Hiashi continued through, sliding the inner door open and revealing Tenten and Hanabi already waiting. He concealed his look of surprise at the fact that Tenten had used a transformation jutsu to look as if she were not at all pregnant. That was her own choice, after all. 'I will watch over her, Hanabi. You may go.' The teenager gave an obedient bow and left as Tenten seated herself across from the faceless figure.

'who are you?' she asked him, curiosity in her dark grey eyes. Who would hide their face in such despair? For the fellow did not have an air of secrecy, really. He answered her question with a raspy question of his own.

'are you happy, Tenten-Sama?' the voice made her shudder involuntarily at memories it brought back of the war.

'happy? Why do you ask?'

'when I came to the village I inquired after you,' the man rasped, sounding melancholy. 'they told me you were married now, and living in the Hyuuga estate. One even said you were with child also, but it seems perhaps they were wrong.'

At this, Tenten shook her head, looking down at her lap, clearly sorrowful. 'in a way, yes, I suppose I am happy,' she said after a moment. 'But all of that is only partly true. I was found with child by a Hyuuga shortly after the war ended, and they married me as a widow so the child could claim their birthright.'

'I see. So your husband is dead, then. My condolences.' The voice paused, then said, 'may I ask his name?'

She sighed lightly but nodded all the same. 'His name was Neji. Perhaps you knew him.'

The faceless man jerked in surprise at the name. 'really?' he asked, the rasp completely gone and the voice high with shock. And also quite familiar. 'and- forgive me, I must ask- do you love him still?'

Tenten nodded, beginning to cry, her transformation slipping and revealing just how large her stomach was now at 7 months. 'more than anything. I could never love another.'

A hand pulled out from the sleeve of the robe and slowly reached for the top right side of the hood the man wore. Tenten looked up and Hiashi watched warily as the man pulled the hood back so the frontmost part sat on the center top of his head.

'I-I had to know first, what the truth was.'

He gave a yelp of surprise as something knocked him into the far wall, crushing the breath out of him. Something large, and warm, and oddly shaped compared to normal. _Tenten?!_ He was abruptly punched in the cheek and winced, fighting the urge to retaliate as all his training said he should.

'You _Baka_! How could you _do_ this to me? Just come _slinking_ back like you haven't been _dead_ for seven months!' on the words baka, do, slinking, and dead, she slapped Neji again, though each blow was weaker than the last and only the first punch had even hurt. Finally she stopped, just sitting on his stomach with a knee on either side of him, two fistfuls of his cloak in her hands, crying her eyes out.

'if it helps,' he said in a mild tone, 'I really was dead.' He rolled his silver eyes lightly up toward his forehead, and Tenten looked at his face to realize he was missing his cursed seal still, since it had faded when he'd died on the battlefield. 'how could that help?' she demanded, shaking him a little by her fistfuls of cloak.

Someone put a hand on Tenten's shoulder, and she looked round sharply, having forgotten that Hiashi was even there. 'Tenten-Sama,' he said in a similarly mild tone, 'I don't think Neji would appreciate returning to his grave so soon after escaping it.' Tenten relinquished her hold with a little reluctance, scrubbing at her eyes and allowing Hiashi to pull her to her feet by a hand under her arm. Once she was standing, Neji drew himself upright again, brushing his cloak as if to regain his dignity, though his eyes were watery and there was a very rare genuine smile on his face.

'is what she said true, Uncle?' Neji asked, an eager note in his voice. 'we are already married? That is my son or daughter she is carrying?' Hiashi nodded confirmation, giving a thin-lipped smile in return. 'well, I'm afraid I will have to break my word.'

'what?!' Hiashi and Tenten both blurted. Tenten balled up a fist again, threatening her love with it.

'I swore I would not touch Tenten. But if she is my wife, I can't keep that promise and be a good husband, can I?' both the others relaxed and Hiashi nodded. 'you have my full permission, Nephew.'

'and mine too.' Tenten scrubbed her eyes again and then caught hold of Neji in a tight embrace, knocking the rest of the hood off his head.

'What happened to your hair?'


	13. Chapter 14

Neji gave a sad sigh at Hiashi's question, moving a hand and reaching to the nape of his neck. The front two locks of his hair still reached to his collarbones, but the rest looked as if someone had caught hold of his hair tie and lopped it at the neck with a kunai.

Tenten, hearing the question and Neji's wordless answer, took a half step back and gasped in shock and horror. 'who would do that to you?' she asked, though she knew he probably wouldn't have an answer.

'I woke like this. I suppose whoever brought me back felt some kind of payment was needed.' The lack of weight pulling down on his head and neck was very odd to Neji, as was the missing sensation of a shift across his back when he turned his head. He hadn't had short hair since he'd been born- it had only been trimmed as a child to keep it from reaching the ground as he grew.

Tenten reached up to feel the much shorter hair on the back of his neck now, marvelling that it was only about 8 centimetres long. Then she reached forward, lightly twirling one of the locks that had survived the abrupt haircut. 'it's all going to take some getting used to, isn't it?' she murmured, tucking her head under his chin to listen to his heart.

'ah, yes, it certainly will,' Hiashi said, shifting. 'but first things first- you're alive! We need to tell the clan about this!'

Neji let out a small groan, half-lidding his silver-white eyes. 'uncle,' he said in a clear, slightly annoyed tone, 'right now I want only three things. Dry clothing, a meal, and a chance to rest and talk to my wife.'

Hiashi looked mildly annoyed by Neji's lack of agreement, but conceded the point after a moment. 'tonight, then. I will send someone with dry clothing and leftovers for you.' He slid open the inside door and motioned, indicating he was allowed to go where he liked.

'come on, I suppose you'll go to my room,' Tenten said, shifting and taking his hand in her own, leading down a corridor to a room with a nameplate that had clearly been recently painted, reading _Tenten_. Noticing something off about the nameplate and the location of the room, Neji pulled the nameplate from its holder beside the door and flipped it over, smirking and showing Tenten, who gasped in shock.

'They gave me _your_ room?!' she demanded, taking the nameplate from him with her free hand and staring at the two characters spelling _Neji_. 'they told me this room was a spare! Why wouldn't they tell me?'

Neji squeezed her hand reassuringly and gently took the nameplate back, replacing it in the holder with his name facing out. 'maybe they thought it would be too much if you knew. Maybe they thought you would reject it.' He slid the room's door open and looked around, noting that except for the clear lack of any of his old personal items, it hadn't changed.

There was a light rap on the door and Tenten answered it, stepping momentarily away from Neji. 'Milady, here is some food and a set of dry clothing for your guest,' a child said with a bow, handing the woman the items and quickly leaving with a few curious glances behind them. Tenten turned to give the items to Neji only to find him standing less than a foot away, directly behind her. She gave a tiny surprised sound and nearly dropped the items, which Neji caught as if he'd expected her to do that. 'thank you,' he murmured, gently taking the clothes and bowl of food from her and laying them on the bed, then starting to take his wet cloak and shirt off to replace them with the kimono he'd been given.

'sorry,' he mumbled as he hurried to change. 'I don't have a screen. Although I'm surprised you haven't gotten one by now.'

'I haven't really needed one,' Tenten admitted with a shrug, surreptitiously watching his back for the few moments it was bare. 'it's not as if anyone ever visits.'

Neji scoffed, tying his obi and turning around with a tiny smile. 'some things will never change.'


	14. Chapter 15

Neji scooped up the bowl and picked up the chopsticks with them, sitting down cross-legged on the bed and starting to eat as if he had gone for months without food. Well, in a way, he had. Tenten just stared at him for a moment, struck again with the feeling that this was too good to be true. He was warm, and real, and alive! But how? After a few seconds, she moved, giving in to the urge to be near to him, to reassure herself he was real, and it wasn't one of her previous dreams. She sat down beside him on the bed, crossing her legs under her and laying her hands in her lap, watching him eat. Then, she started to watch his bowl of breakfast as her stomach reminded her she'd left a good two-thirds of it behind that morning.

When Tenten's stomach growled, Neji came up for air, glancing over at her with a guilty look. 'I came during breakfast, didn't I?' he asked, holding out the bowl and chopsticks. 'don't short yourself, Tenten.' She waved it away, ignoring the second growl of her protesting stomach. This was followed by a small frustrated sound from Neji. 'Tenten, please. Just eat. If you don't, you aren't the only one going hungry anymore.'

'you don't have to remind me of that! Unlike you, I've been here for all of it!' Tenten just short of yelled, making him flinch. Her eyes filled with tears. 'I'm sorry- I just can't believe any of this is happening. It's all too good to be real.'

Neji looked into Tenten's eyes, expression unreadable, then pressed the bowl and chopsticks into her hands. 'I understand,' he murmured. 'we need to talk. A lot's happened in seven months. But first, eat.' Finally, she took the food and quickly started to eat, finishing what was left quickly and placing the bowl lightly on the floor beside the bed when she was through.

Neji drew in a deep breath and settled himself in the position he usually used for meditation. It was interesting to Tenten that little mannerisms like that could stay with a person through death and back again, and that she could so easily remember all the things he once did. It was a great testament to their compatibility, she supposed. She waited patiently for him to start talking. A few minutes passed in loaded silence.

'before I woke this morning, the last thing I remember is jumping in front of those spikes from the ten-tails. Naruto held my head as everything faded out to nothing. I feel as if things happened between, but I can't recall.' Neji turned his head so he could watch Tenten's reaction with his silver-white eyes. 'please, tell me what I missed.'

She swallowed, looking down and running a gentle hand over her baby bump, giving a tentative smile as the baby kicked as it often did. Neji shifted, moving a tentative hand toward her stomach with an uncertain expression. He started to pull the hand back but Tenten took it gently and laid it on the place where the baby had just kicked, letting him feel it for himself. His face changed to confused surprise, feeling the tiny foot press into his palm. 'it's a long story,' Tenten warned. 'but I suppose we have all day.' She cleared her throat and began with Neji sitting attentively, one hand still on her stomach, glancing at it every now and then as the baby continued to kick periodically, almost as if playing.

'a couple weeks after the battle, I started getting sick, and I didn't know why. I thought maybe I had internal damage or a disease, so I went to the hospital to get checked. They ask girls every time they go in if you could be pregnant, and I said no like always, but then I thought about it.' She turned a bit pink, looking down at her massive stomach for a moment before looking back up. 'they had me take a test and of course it came back positive. I started panicking.'

'why?' Neji asked in confusion, brows furrowing. 'isn't new life a joyous thing?'

'well, yes, it is. The trouble is that, first of all, I wasn't married, and, second, I knew who the father was…and he was dead, at the time.' Neji's face smoothed and he nodded. 'go on.'

'Tsunade told me I had to tell Hiashi-Sama about the pregnancy so they could prepare, and in December we told him. I thought he would be angry, but he wasn't at all. He was only concerned about the baby, and me by extension. Well, and clan politics, of course.'

'of course.'

'he couldn't have a hyuuga child born out of wedlock, but since you were dead he thought his hands were tied. It was Tsunade who thought of doing a wedding with a stand-in as you, so I could be declared your widow on the village records.'

'how thoughtful of her.' Neji took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment. 'you don't know how much I wish it really had been me that day.'

'I can imagine it's less than how much I wished it.' Tenten moved, reaching for a small drawer in the side table beside her, pulling something out. It was a photograph, the only one taken of the ceremony. She looked at it for a moment, then handed it to Neji. He held it up, smiling a little. 'of course they chose Mamoru,' he mused, 'he's been trying to copy me since his birth, though some say he only really managed in looks.'

Tenten nodded at the photo before Neji set it aside, looking back to her. 'that was New Year's day. The night before that, you came to me in a dream and proposed. If you hadn't…I don't know if I could have gone through with it. Maybe, for the baby's sake, but it would have been hard.'

'I don't remember doing that, I already told you. But if I had been able to I know I would have.' Neji took Tenten's hands in his own, squeezing them gently in a reassuring way. 'go on- has anything else noteworthy happened?'

'I- well, yes, there's more.' She looked down for a moment before looking back into Neji's calm silvery eyes, eager to know what he'd missed. 'on my birthday I went to visit your grave, and someone had left a scroll behind with a poem and a flower sealed inside it. The poem said something like "do not kneel at my grave and cry; I am not here, but am alive." Needless to say, it unsettled me a lot, and Hanabi too. Nothing much else has happened since, until last night.'

'what happened last night?'

'I-I think,' Tenten stammered, giving a slight shiver, 'you were visiting me just before whoever it was resurrected you. You were commenting about how big I was and suddenly you coughed blood and disappeared. You promised you'd see me again. Then today you came to me.' At some point during her last few sentences, she had started to cry. Neji let go of her hands and reached up to wipe away her tears with his thumb, stoic as ever. Only his eyes showed all the emotions he held inside. Most evident was love for her. After a moment, he shifted his body and gently tugged Tenten partway onto his cross-legged lap, letting her lean back against his chest and wrapping his arms tenderly around her chest, planting a light kiss on her cheek and rocking ever so slightly from side to side to comfort her.

AN: this took forever to write and it was HARD! I hope it portrays the characters well!


	15. Chapter 16

Neji continued to sway lightly from side to side in a comforting manner, feeling Tenten relax and start to melt a little into him, becoming drowsy with the gentle metronomic motion. After a few moments, she spoke in a relaxed, sleepy voice. 'Neji?'

'hmm?'

'do you really love me?' the question didn't seem like a serious one from Tenten's tone, but he knew it was important to her. He gave a tiny smile she couldn't see and leaned his head slightly to the side to give her a tiny kiss.

'do you really think I would have agreed to your request all those months ago if I didn't?' he asked in return. She reached a hand up to his, which were both folded across the very top of her large stomach, and found one of his hands, lacing her fingers with his.

'and you're really okay with us having a baby?' she asked, squeezing his fingers lightly.

'I don't have much choice in the matter,' he replied in a light tone.

Tenten suddenly stiffened in his arms, and Neji reviewed what he'd just said, wondering what he'd done wrong. Abruptly, she sat up and away from him, starting to cry. 'Tenten-?'

'I should have li-listened to Tsunade,' the pregnant woman blubbered, covering her face with her hands. 'she said- when I found out- she said I didn't have to- to go through with it if I didn't want to.'

Finally realizing his blunder, Neji grabbed Tenten's shoulder and turned her to face him partly before drawing her into a tight embrace with one hand on the back of her neck to guide her head to his shoulder and the other drawing circles on her upper back. 'No! Tenten, that's not what I meant at all!' he said in a faintly disturbed but firm tone. 'don't ever think that I would want that. New life is to be celebrated. I'm overjoyed to be a father.' Now that she'd stopped sobbing, though she was still leaking tears onto his shoulder, he let her sit back a little so she could see his face. 'but you must admit it's all a bit sudden to me. How would you like to wake up in the morning _suddenly_ married and well on the way to expecting a child?'

Tenten looked down, sniffling and wiping at her face. 'well, you didn't have to say it like that, Neji. You really scared me.'

'I'm truly sorry for that.' She looked up into his silver eyes, which were narrowed slightly in relief and joy, and offered a watery smile.

'you should probably stay away from trying to make jokes,' she informed him, making him smile a little more in return.

'I'll keep that in mind.' Neji looked momentarily toward the door, then back to Tenten. 'do you suppose lunch will be delivered? Hiashi said he wouldn't present me until tonight, I assume either during or after the evening meal. If he wants to force me out earlier, though, he probably knows all he has to do is withhold food from you.'

Tenten gave a tiny laugh at that and Neji quirked an eyebrow in questioning surprise. 'I usually just go to the kitchen when I'm hungry, since that sometimes happens between meals now. My stomach gets squeezed from the baby so not as much food will fit at once, but I have to eat more than normal at the same time. So I eat four or five smaller meals over the day, with the morning and afternoon meals just taken from the kitchen. I can just get more and bring it back for you.'

Neji nodded his understanding, then looked around the room, noting there really wasn't much to do. 'what else should we talk about?'

'well, I don't guess you have too many topics, so what would you like to know?' Neji gave a thoughtful hum, looking around the room again, taking a moment to look out the window to the sheeting rain, before letting his gaze finally fall on Tenten's large stomach.

'do you know the baby's gender yet? You're far enough along now, right?' Tenten shook her head a little.

'I didn't want to know until the baby was born- don't ask me why.' She gave a little sigh, herself looking at her massive baby bump. 'it would only influence name, anyway.'

'speaking of names, have you thought of any?'

'I haven't thought too much about it, really. My only real idea was, if it's a boy, I was going to name him after your father.' At this, Neji gently shook his head.

'I don't like the idea of naming a child after a family member they'll never get to meet.' He also had a bit of a superstition that a child named for someone else, particularly a family member, would follow a similar fate, and that was something he wanted to avoid as much as possible.

'well, do you have any ideas?' Tenten asked rather testily. Neji perked up a little.

'yes, actually. I've always rather liked the name Hinohe. It's gender neutral too, so it would suit a boy or girl.'

'you want to name your firstborn "sunrise"? I know you're a bit of a morning person, but isn't that taking it too far?' Tenten smiled to show him she was just teasing and he looked away. 'there's time to think of more names later. But this rain is making me tired, and I didn't sleep well last night. We could always just pass time by taking a nap.' She took one of his hands and leaned backwards, settling into the mattress and giving him a light tug to try and get him to join her.

'Tenten, this is only a one-person bed. I'm not sure we'll both fit.' He resisted the gentle pressure on his wrist, measuring the remaining space with a critical eye and determining that, well, yes, they would both fit, if just barely. It would be rather snug, but that was hardly a problem. 'you'll have to sleep on your side,' he informed her, and she rolled and scooted over, making just enough room. He settled down, looking at the rather messy buns in her hair before shutting his eyes. Both of them slept until noon. By then, the rain had stopped, and patchy sun started to appear, peeking through the clouds at intervals.

After Tenten went to fetch lunch for two, they sat and talked through the afternoon, with Tenten filling Neji in on as much as she could of everyone else's lives. When she told him Hinata had started dating Naruto, he almost dropped his rice ball. 'Hinata-Sama…dating? And Naruto, at that!' he mused. Then he smiled a little. 'I suppose it's about time. She's grown a lot, and they're perfect for each other.' He asked about their old teammate and sensei, and Tenten had to admit she hadn't seen them in months, but she supposed they were doing well. Now that she thought of it, those flowers she'd seen at Neji's grave were probably from Rock Lee coming to pay his respects between missions. He had taken Neji's death, if possible, even harder than she had.

When the sun was finally starting to set, they had run out of topics and lapsed into companionable silence, sitting on the side of the bed again, Neji's arm wrapped firmly around Tenten's shoulder with her head laying over on his. Tenten sat up at the sound of a small gong from elsewhere within the compound. 'before dinner it is,' Neji commented, getting up and offering his hand, which Tenten took gratefully, though she allowed no one else to offer her help. He glanced at Tenten's buns again, noting they were even more disheveled and flyaway than they had been that morning, and let go her hand momentarily. 'come here,' he murmured, taking the pins and ties out of her hair and letting it fall to the ends of her shoulderblades. He gave it a quick comb-through with his fingers, then pulled one of the hair ribbons from his mouth, tying it the best way he knew how- the way he'd always kept his own hair, tied at the bottom. He took the second white ribbon and used it to make a butterfly bow for her. 'there, much better,' he said approvingly, taking the pins from his mouth and laying them on the bedside table since they weren't needed. She reached back to feel what he'd done and smiled when she encountered the butterfly.

'ready?' she asked him, reaching again for his hand. He took it, giving a nod, suddenly nervous to see his clanmates' reactions. 'as I'll ever be, I suppose. Let's go.'


	16. Chapter 17

They walked down the hallway as the gong sounded again, closer to them. The majority of the clan would already be assembled in the meeting room. They reached the door and Neji put a hand on the frame, ready to push it open.

'Come in,' Hiashi called with a slightly raised voice, and every silver eye in the meeting room turned curiously as the door slid open. At the last moment, Tenten jumped in front of Neji, giving him a couple more seconds to compose himself, for which he was grateful. 'I have someone to present to you all,' she said, turning partly toward the door and gesturing with her nearer hand. 'my husband.'

There were confused, shocked murmurs that turned to loud gasps and a tumult of people jumping to their feet in alarm as Neji entered the room, glancing about warily. 'Nii-San!' blurted hanabi, looking questioningly to her father for a moment, who seemed to be the only one still properly seated. 'how is this possible?!' mamoru blurted, eyes as wide as they could go.

'I saw you die!' cried a different voice from the others. Neji and Tenten both turned with no little surprise to see Naruto on his feet next to hinata, who alone had not said a word. 'this is some kind of trick, dattebayo! Neji is dead!'

Neji sighed, shutting his eyes for a moment and holding both his hands up for silence. After a moment, a hush fell over the room, though everyone remained standing, watching with bated breath. 'it's true,' Neji said shortly, reopening his silver-white eyes and meeting the eyes of his clanmates (and Naruto) one at a time. 'I died protecting Naruto and Hinata-Sama from the spikes of the Ten-tails. I remember the things I said, and I remember passing into the beyond. Then, just this morning, I awoke alive again, I know not how.'

'yeah, yeah, let's say I believe that,' Naruto growled, clearly not believing at all. 'that doesn't explain you, Tenten.'

'me? I'm the same as always,' she said, turning to the young man with a bewildered expression.

'are you sure? Cos you look like you swallowed a watermelon without cutting it up first-'

'WHY YOU-!'

Neji caught hold of Tenten's shoulders as she lunged at Naruto, both hands balled into fists. 'Tenten!'

'YOU TAKE THAT BACK YOU INSOLENT LITTLE-'

'Tenten, please-'

'YOU BAKA I'LL MAKE _YOU_ EAT A WATERMELON-'

'Tenten-Sama, calm down!' Neji looked every bit as dismayed by Tenten's hormonal reaction to the fool's insensitive comment as Naruto himself was. He was hiding in the corner behind hinata in case Neji lost his grip on her. Finally, Neji did the only thing left to him and very carefully tapped one of the tenketsu just under Tenten's collarbone, causing her to turn on him from the pain of it and then realise just how irrational she had been a moment before. She relaxed considerably and Naruto let out a sigh of relief, his hands on Hinata's shoulders as she was still standing in front of him.

'I think…she's scarier than you are, Neji, dattebayo,' Naruto said in a trembling tone, watching to make certain Tenten had really calmed down.

'about time I got some respect,' Tenten commented, turning back to Naruto and wincing a little. Neji quickly unblocked the tenketsu again with an apologetic look, which she waved off. 'but we aren't here about me. We're here to announce that Neji has somehow been brought back to life.'

'that's correct,' Hiashi said, taking control of the situation once more. He glanced around the room and everyone but Neji and Tenten sat back on their allotted cushions. 'his resurrection raises a few dilemmas. First is the marriage matter. If you two still wish to be legally married you'll have to go to the village headquarters as soon as possible and re-sign the marriage certificate. Secondly is the matter of Neji's cursed seal of Heaven.' Many of the clan members looked up to Neji's forehead, so shocked by his reappearance that they only now realised it was blank of the seal's mark.

'he never wanted that thing in the first place,' Naruto commented from the back. 'why bother? Just let it be.'

Neji shook his head at this and Tenten looked up at him, confused. 'it must be done. I am a branch house member, and dying changes nothing.'

'but Nii-San,' Hanabi objected, eyes troubled. 'we have a chance to start over. We can make you a part of the main house.'

'don't you think you deserve that much after saving Hinata?' Hiashi asked, confused and concerned. 'I'm willing to do it, nephew, if you only agree.'

Neji shook his head again, this time more emphatically. Tenten put a hand on his shoulder, eyes watering, and he gave her a reassuring glance before addressing his uncle. 'I will not agree. You have no right to take my birthright and that of my child away from us. I am the heir to the Hyuuga branch house, and that I will remain, if I must get the elder himself to re-mark me.'

'Neji-Nii-San, please reconsider,' hanabi begged. Hinata watched with troubled eyes, unable to speak up but clearly on her younger sister's side.

'why put yourself through that again?' Naruto asked, clearly confused by Neji's words. 'I thought all you ever wanted was to be free of your cursed seal, but now you want it back? Did dying fry your brain, dattebayo?'

Neji looked to the loudmouthed blonde with clear irritation. 'if you don't rebrand me,' he said, looking back to Hiashi, 'what sort of a precedent will that set? It could well lead to a great imbalance between the houses. We do not need any more scandals, especially that I have part in.'

'Nephew-'

'that is final, uncle-Sama. You know your duty as clan leader. It should not take me to remind you.' Hiashi narrowed his eyes but, after a moment, reluctantly nodded his head. Neji gave a tiny bow in return.

'well, that leaves one more item of business,' Hiashi said at length. His eyes lit up and he even began to smile. 'a banquet in honor of Neji's return to us!' suddenly, everyone in the room let out a cheer and got up, heading for the dining area. Neji let out a little surprised laugh.

'that went far better than I expected,' he commented to Tenten, who was grinning, looking around at everyone.

'wait until word gets around the village- everyone's going to want to see for themselves that you're alive.' Neji frowned in concern, not having thought of that until that moment. He let out a sigh of long-suffering and Tenten elbowed him lightly. 'it'll just show how much everyone cares.'

'that's not what I'm worried about,' Neji commented, a tiny smirk on his face as though he were trying not to laugh as they headed for the dining hall themselves.

'what is, then?'

'I'm wondering how I'll survive the arrival of the Green Beasts.' Tenten started to giggle, having forgotten about Might Guy and Rock Lee, quite possibly the two most enthusiastic ninja in all of Konoha. Neji started laughing as well, and Naruto, who was ahead of them with Hinata, turned, brows furrowed as if thinking the couple were laughing at him. 'what's so funny, dattebayo?' Neji and tenten looked at one another and simply started to laugh a little harder.


	17. Chapter 18

After a hearty meal, Neji noticed tenten stifling a yawn amid all the conversation at the table. It was fairly late in the evening at this point and the time had passed quickly as everyone asked him questions and told him about what had happened in the village. Almost every person at the banquet had asked what had become of his long hair by this point, and he was getting annoyed. Tenten provided a perfect polite way out.

'it's getting late, and I think it's time we turned in for the night,' he said in a lull in the conversation.

'please, stay. You aren't tired already, are you?' someone asked from slightly down the table.

'Tenten is tired, and she needs her rest-'

'I can go to bed myself, if you want to stay,' Tenten interjected, looking to Neji to gauge his intentions. 'I don't mind.'

Neji gave her a momentary look somewhere between annoyance at the others around him and fright that she would leave him alone at their mercy. She gave him a narrow-eyed look for a split second. _You baby- they're all just happy you're alive. Let them celebrate._

'I'd rather stay with you. I can't really quite believe what's happened while I was dead.' He looked significantly down to Tenten's stomach. There were a few understanding nods around the table. 'if you will excuse us.' He stood from the table and offered his hand to Tenten, who took it, stifling another yawn and offering an apologetic look as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders on the way back to their room.

Once they reached the room and Neji slid the door open, Tenten stepped away from him for a moment so she could face him. 'you didn't have to leave the banquet on my account,' she told him, but he just offered a tiny smile.

'actually, I'd wanted to leave. I don't like to be the center of attention, for one thing. And for another, I was getting very annoyed with all the questions about my hair. I'm sure that will turn to teasing soon enough.' Tenten gave a small sigh of relief. He gently took a step closer to her, lifting her chin the requisite few centimeters so that they could see eye to eye. 'what I said was true. I feel at this moment that if you leave my sight it will all disappear.'

Tenten's eyes started to water and she took advantage of the position she was in to give him a kiss. After she let go, he smiled warmly at her, then looked briefly around the room, noticing something was different. 'ah, how nice,' he commented, and Tenten turned to see someone had brought along a double bed for them, and a bigger blanket to match. She stepped away from Neji and knelt down onto the mattress, which had been set up on the floor, as was tradition. She folded the blanket back on both sides and settled into the nearer side, looking up at Neji and waiting for him to join her. 'it's surprising to me how accepting you are of all this,' he commented, stepping over and kneeling on the other side of the mattress. 'it must be as strange to you as it is to me.'

'strange, yes,' Tenten commented with a much larger yawn than before. 'awkward, no. something about it all just seems right, at least to me.' She laid on her back and pulled the blanket up to her chin, looking up to him with a small smile and eyes sparkling with love.

Neji shifted from kneeling to cross-legged, settling into a meditative pose. 'yes,' he mused, shutting his silver-white eyes and taking a deep breath. 'you're right. Strange by circumstance, but somehow still natural in action.' He heard Tenten let out a sigh and start breathing deeply, apparently already asleep. After a short while, he uncoiled himself from his cross-legged pose and settled into the bed himself, looking over at his sleeping wife, who had rolled to face him and wore a truly serene expression as she slept, both arms stretched out partway as if reaching for him. He gently took one of her reaching hands in his own before himself drifting off to sleep.

In the early hours of the morning, something woke Neji again. He was momentarily very confused about where he was and who was wrapped tightly in his arms before remembering the events of the day before. What had woken him up? Then, the noise came again- Tenten let out a whimper of pain and fear, clearly still asleep. She was having a nightmare, apparently. Neji sat himself up on an elbow, wondering whether he should wake her or not.

'n-no…no…don't…' Tenten whimpered, hand twitching as if she were reaching to stop someone. 'Noo…' Neji saw Tenten's body start to tense up and realized she was going to wake up by herself, and probably yell when she did. He quickly moved a hand to cover her mouth as her eyes suddenly flew open and she did, indeed, yell out and sit upright in bed, panting and staring with glazed-over eyes at the far wall. After a few seconds she came the rest of the way awake and licked the hand clapped over her mouth, making Neji flinch and wipe it off on his shirt. Tenten suddenly started to cry- clearly she was awake but had not remembered the events of the day before yet, like Neji had done. Neji wondered what she had been dreaming about- though muffled, the yell had sounded a lot like his name.

He gently laid a hand on Tenten's nearer shoulder, making her hiccup in surprise and sit up straighter. 'what's the matter? Are you all right?' at the sound of Neji's mellow voice, the events of the day before suddenly came rushing back and she let out an enormous sigh of relief and turned, starting to cry on his shoulder, arms wrapped tightly around him. After a momentary surprise he gently wrapped his arms around her as well, one hand resting on the back of her head and the other rubbing gentle circles between her shoulderblades. He thought idly that he hoped she wouldn't cry this much once the baby was born. But then, she had plenty of reason to cry outside of hormones, too. In fact, it was practically a miracle he hadn't properly cried yet himself- he nearly had, a few times. 'what did you dream about?'

Tenten let out a sniffle and sat up a little, shifting into a more comfortable position. 'we were walking around the village,' she said, wiping at her eye and pointedly not making eye contact with Neji. 'some rogues appeared and attacked us. And instead of fighting us they attacked me and you jumped in front, but instead of using Rotation you just stood there and let them hit you. They disappeared, and you collapsed and then just blew away like dust in the wind, like you'd never existed in the first place!' she gave a violent shudder, more tears leaking out. 'all that was left was this big- this bloodstain on the ground!' she gasped in a shivering breath and scrubbed at her eyes. 'don'tdothatforme' she mumbled behind her sleeves.

'what was that?' Neji asked, leaning a little forward. A moment later he regretted the movement as Tenten suddenly punched him in the jaw, knocking him flat to the mattress in surprise. 'what's wrong with you?!' he demanded, rubbing at the spot her knuckles had connected with his jawbone. He sat warily back upright, eyes concerned but demanding explanation.

'don't do that for me! Don't ever sacrifice yourself for me- I'm not that important. I don't care what the stakes are- I don't care that if you don't then I'll die. Don't you _ever_ think you can die for me! I won't let you!'

'easy, Tenten, it was only a nightmare. You know none of it would ever happen. And I would never have to sacrifice myself for you. For one thing, you can take care of yourself, and even if you couldn't hold your own I can protect all of us.' He reached out for her and pulled her close, wincing in surprise as the baby kicked the both of them in the ribs. 'why don't we go back to sleep? Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day.'


	18. Chapter 19

The rising sun woke Tenten the next morning, and she wriggled a little, much too comfortable at the moment to want to get out of bed. Her fidgeting woke Neji, who had his arms wrapped around his own chest like a mummy and his forehead resting between her shoulderblades. He had no qualms about sitting up and stretching. 'aren't you getting up? It will be breakfast time soon.' Tenten just let out a low, good-natured grumble and curled a little farther into a ball under the blanket. Neji let out an amused huff. 'suit yourself.' He waited a moment or two, and when Tenten still refused to move, he carefully got up from the bed and grabbed the very corner of the blanket, giving a sharp, quick tug and folding it, making her let out a yelp of surprise at the cold early-morning air and finally sit up, glaring daggers.

'there's a lot we have to get done today,' Neji reminded her, and she sighed in resignation. 'I know, I know.' Tenten got to her knees, then her feet, and toddled off to clean herself up before breakfast started while Neji started thinking about the day's itinerary.

After breakfast was over, they stopped back by the room for a moment to get some bandages, which Neji wound around his head as he had done before to cover his cursed seal. He would have to get a new forehead protector eventually, since his last one had been tattered in the war and his earlier ones had likely been either handed down or destroyed when he had died. 'why are you covering up a mark you don't even have yet?' Tenten asked as he finished tying the bandage on.

'it's a matter of recognition. It's bad enough my hair was cut, but no one will recognize me- or believe me if they do- if my forehead is unmarked.' That did make sense to Tenten, and she nodded, taking his hand as they headed out into the village for the first time in a fairly long time for either of them.

Their first order of business was to go to the village headquarters and re-sign the marriage papers. They would take the opportunity to see that Lady Tsunade knew about Neji's resurrection in case she hadn't yet been told. But, on the way there, they were stopped by simultaneously the two people and _last_ two people they wanted to run into.

Might Guy, their former Sensei, and Rock Lee, their teammate.

Both of the green-clad ninja stopped in the middle of the road staring at the miraculous couple before them- Neji with his old white outfit back and long bangs with short hair, holding hands with Tenten, who was so clearly heavily pregnant that a blind man could have seen it. There was silence between the four people for an uncomfortable moment. 'ah…hello?' Tenten said tentatively.

Suddenly, before anyone could really react, Lee was hugging Neji with the poor man's arms pinned to his sides, squeezing the breath out of him. 'NEJI YOU'RE ALIVE! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!'

'I can't…breathe…'

'Oops! Sorry, Neji! I just am so excited to see you alive- I thought you were a ghost for a second there.' Lee quickly let go of his teammate with an apologetic look, then glanced to Tenten. 'Tenten!'

Tenten quickly held up a hand to fend him off. 'No, Lee! If you hug me like that you'll be catching a baby!'

Lee stepped back, looking at the woman's stomach as if he just now saw it. 'Tenten! When did this happen? I know we have been busy and have not seen you in months but you are absolutely enormous!'

She gave a nervous laugh. 'well, Lee, that's what happens when you're pregnant. It only takes a few months.' Guy laid a hand on Lee's shoulder, pulling the younger ninja back a step.

'it's good to see the both of you,' their sensei said.

'if you do not mind me asking, Tenten, who is the baby's father?' Lee was now staring at the baby bump as if it held the answers of the universe. Tenten let out a shocked and slightly offended laugh while Neji let out a long-suffering sigh. Lee's eyes wandered from the bump to the linked hands of his two former teammates, neither of whom were the type for hand-holding.

'oohhhh…I see.' Lee put a hand under his chin thoughtfully. 'Truly much has happened while I have been busy with all of my missions.' Then he brightened considerably, practically bouncing. 'congratulations, you two!'

'there is one thing I'm concerned about,' Guy said, making Lee turn to look at him and the others to glance up in surprise as well. 'are we just supposed to take your word on it that you are Neji? After all, we were all there when you died. It sounds a little suspicious, you have to admit.' Tenten didn't like the sound of that. When Guy got suspicious, he got _very_ suspicious. Practically nothing could convince him of a fact if he believed otherwise.

'I know a solution!' Lee blurted, pointing a finger at Neji imperiously. Neji looked down at the finger with raised eyebrows. 'we shall have a sparring match! If you can best me, then I shall believe you are who you say you are.' This time it was Tenten who let out a long-suffering sigh.

'Lee, we really don't have time for-'

'I accept your challenge.' Neji gave the faintest of smirks to Lee and glanced over at Tenten. 'but,' he quickly amended, noticing the fire in her eyes, 'it would be better if we could do it later today. Perhaps 2 o'clock, at the training grounds?'

'I will be there! Guy-Sensei, will you be the referee?' Lee looked pleadingly to the bigger man, who nodded, flashing his trademark grin. 'you can count on it.'

'all right, we'll see you then! We really have some errands to run right now,' Tenten said, pulling Neji away from the others with him following quickly. 'did you have to? You know how Lee gets with this sort of thing. Besides, you've only been alive for a day, and maybe you're full health, but are you really up for sparring so soon?' she looked at him with worry. 'do you even know if your byakugan still work?'

Neji just scoffed, waving away Tenten's concerns. 'it'll be fine. And yes, my byakugan work just fine, I've already checked.'

'when did you check?'

'when you said you were found with child by a hyuuga, yesterday. I looked at the baby's chakra signature, and I saw the truth of your words.'

'ah.' She nodded in understanding. So she hadn't seen him do it, but he had done it. 'Hiashi-Sama did the same thing when I went to tell him in December. I didn't know you could tell what clan someone was from by seeing their chakra.'

Neji nodded. 'well, _you_ can't. but honestly it's even more than that. If you're familiar with a person, you can sometimes even tell individuals apart by using the Byakugan.' A note of pride crept into his voice. 'there is a reason it's sometimes called the strongest dojutsu.' Tenten just scoffed, putting a pin in his ego.

They reached the main hall of the village and headed up to the Hokage's office to meet with Tsunade and set the paperwork straight. Since no one was waiting they just went in, seeing Tsunade sitting at the desk going over lists of missions with her helper standing beside her. She glanced up at the sound of footsteps, then sat back in her chair with shock and alarm on her face. 'sh-shizune, I haven't been drinking today, have I?'

'no, ma'am, I think he's real,' the second woman stammered back. Both were, of course, staring at Neji. He rolled his eyes skyward for a moment. He supposed he'd better get used to this sort of reaction.

'Uncle told me there were marriage papers I needed to sign, and since I was here I thought it courteous to present myself to you.' Tsunade looked ready to faint. 'I thank you for taking care of Tenten,' he continued into the strained silence. 'I hadn't expected such a blessing as being resurrected any more than the next person, and I only came back yesterday.'

Tsunade finally got up, trembling a little. 'come here,' she told him, and Neji let go of Tenten's hand to step up in front of the Hokage. She then reached out with one red-nailed finger and poked Neji in the forehead hard enough to push his head slightly back. 'you _are_ real!' Neji narrowed his eyes in annoyance and Tsunade sat back down.

'yes, that's right. Now, about that Marriage certificate…?'


	19. Chapter 20

AN: when the concept for this story first came to me I didn't think it would go longer than ten chapters or so. Yet…here we are! And there's probably at least another 5 chapters' worth of material after this!

At about 1:30 that afternoon, Tenten and Neji left the dumpling shop where they'd eaten lunch to head for the training grounds to meet Guy and Lee. Not surprisingly, Lee was already there warming up with their Sensei. 'AHA!' Lee cried, hearing them approaching and spinning to face them. 'you are here at last! Let us begin!'

'lee, we have another twenty minutes before it's 2 o'clock. At least let Neji warm up first,' Tenten protested.

'Yes, Lee, there's no use getting ahead of yourself. And it's courteous to let your sparring partner have the same chance to prepare as you do,' Guy said with a nod to Neji. The latter turned to Tenten.

'could you help me warm up for the match?'

Tenten gave him a puzzled look. 'how am I supposed to do that? I don't carry weapons with me anymore. And I'm really in no state to be sparring, myself.' Both of them looked momentarily down at her pregnant belly.

'ah, right.'

'you forgot for a moment, didn't you?' Tenten accused in a flat, accusatory tone. He offered a nervous half-laugh.

'remember, Tenten, to me you've only been pregnant for a day.' She let out a sigh, shaking her head a little even though she was amused, and sat down along the treeline.

'I'm sure Guy-Sensei would be happy to help both of you warm up.'

'it would be my pleasure!' Guy piped, straightening into one of his typical sparring poses. 'let's see what you're made of.' Neji shifted down into one of the Juuken starting poses, one hand up in front of him, palm out, and the other by his side, palm out and fingers facing down toward the ground. Lee straightened up and watched for a few moments as Guy and Neji exchanged a quick bout of basic taijutsu blows, mostly punches and strikes with every blow on either side blocked or countered, and Guy threw in a kick at the end before they separated once more. Neji straightened up once more as Lee jumped in, doing much the same as he had. Even together, Neji knew that they could never beat their Sensei in a taijutsu sparring match.

After several more rounds of alternating warm-ups, it was time for the actual sparring match. Neji and Lee faced each other from the far sides of the training area, each taking a starting pose. 'All right,' Guy said, standing next to Tenten, who was sitting cross-legged on the ground by the trees still. 'the match will continue until one of you taps out. Basic Taijutsu only.'

'no, Guy-Sensei!' Lee blurted, glaring determinedly at Neji. 'that will not tell me if my opponent is my former teammate. Any Taijutsu is allowed in this match.'

'are you sure about that, Lee?' Neji asked, looking a bit worried. 'you know how the Gentle Fist works. I could really injure you if you shift at the wrong moment.'

Lee scoffed. 'Ha! You will not be able to touch me, so I am not worried.' Guy looked between the two opponents, eyes suddenly watering as he saw their very first sparring match as genin instead of this match.

'get ahold of yourself, sensei. They're waiting on your signal to begin,' Tenten scolded, and Guy wiped his streaming eyes.

'you guys have just grown so much,' he sniffled, then gave the signal. 'begin!'

At first, Neji completely refrained from striking, testing if and how much his teammate's combat had changed since they'd last sparred. He was proud of what he saw- the small green-clad ninja was stronger than ever. 'why aren't you striking back?' Lee asked as he disengaged from his opponent. 'you do not impress me, Neji. I know you can do better than this.' He took another starting stance and jumped in again, aiming straight for Neji's face. As he sailed across the intervening space he saw Neji activate his byakugan and start to smirk. Rather than blocking the incoming fist, he caught it, bending the wrist and striking one of the tenketsu there, making lee's hand go limp and numb for several seconds. As soon as his fist had been caught, Lee swung around with a kick, which Neji blocked with his arm, pushing Lee away and slightly back. He stood for a moment, the struck hand dangling limply by his side while he waited for feeling to return to it.

'is that more what you were expecting?' Neji asked, still smirking at his opponent.

'that was a lucky hit. I will not be so careless again.' Lee fought to put his limp hand back into a fist and resumed a fighting stance, attacking once more. Neji again struck only one of Lee's points, this time in the opposite elbow, and made everything from there down lock up with pain. For his trouble, though, Lee got a hit in, knocking Neji to the ground with a kick to the side of the head. Neji got back to his feet, shaking his head a little since his ears were ringing. Lee stood a few steps back, looking down at his unusable arms, one a tingling limp stump and the other nothing more than a badly pain-riddled club. He really couldn't hope to beat Neji with only his legs.

'do you yield?' Neji asked, still in his typical gentle fist stance.

'no! I will not! I can still fight!' Lee insisted, ignoring the pain in his one arm and letting the other fist into a knife hand instead. Neji just let out a sigh. _Four more strikes, and this will be over…I don't want to cause any lasting damage._ Lee ran at Neji and suddenly swung a kick instead of his usual punch, which Neji blocked with a look of surprise. What an impressive adaptation! He countered another kick and struck back. _One_. Lee wouldn't really register these hits until they were all in place. He swung at Neji's head from above, and he high-blocked and struck again. _Two_. A small flurry of blows were exchanged, then again. _Three_. Lee was starting to get a bit tired but the use of his hand had come back and he swung a hook from Neji's side, which he barely managed to block. He countered with a flat hand into the fourth tenketsu, making Lee go flying a few feet and land on his back, energy all suddenly gone. _And that's four._

'do you yield?' Neji queried again, stepping over to his comrade. Guy moved closer too, watching Lee.

'I…will…not,' Lee groaned, trying to get up

'it's no use, Lee. You don't have enough energy left available to even stand. Just give in. I've beaten you.' Neji had sealed the four major chakra outlets from Lee's chakra center, leaving barely any circulating. While Lee didn't use ninjutsu, chakra was still life energy and you had to have it to fight or even live. Lee tried again to sit up but flopped back onto his back, panting. 'fine, I yield,' he said in a sullen tone.

'the winner is Neji!' Guy declared, and Tenten got to her feet, heading over to the three men. Neji knelt down and unblocked the four points before Lee could pass out. 'I would have been fine with basic Taijutsu, you know,' Neji grumbled as Lee sat up, breathing evening out.

'that is all right, Neji! I was beaten fair and square, and now I know it is really you!' Neji pulled Lee to his feet and abruptly got pulled into another hug as Lee started crying with joy. Tenten tried not to laugh at her husband's stricken expression but let out an indignant squeak as Guy pulled those two and her into an embrace, also crying. 'I'm so glad we're all together again!' he blubbered.

'I know! Is not this truly a miraculous occasion?'

'can you let go now?'


	20. Chapter 21

After leaving Guy and Lee at last, Neji and Tenten were headed back to the Hyuuga estate late that afternoon. They turned the corner onto the last road and found Hinata and Naruto waiting for them in front of the main gate.

'ah, Hinata-Sama, Naruto. Good afternoon. Is there something you need?' Neji queried.

Hinata looked to Naruto for help, squeezing his hand. 'we wanted to talk to you about a few things,' Naruto said. 'mostly Hinata wants to talk, but I have a few things to say too.' Neji nodded, looking to Tenten, who let go of his hand and moved for the gate.

'dinner's in an hour,' she reminded the three of them before heading back to their room with a few items of shopping they'd picked up that day.

'shall we find a place to sit? I doubt this conversation will be a short one.' Neji led the way to one of the outer rooms- it was the same room he'd been in the day before, though the weather was nice and the brazier was unlit and tucked into a corner. He let the others get settled before seating himself on a cushion, silver-white eyes lit with curiosity. 'what is it you wanted to say, Hinata-Sama?'

Hinata hid part of her face behind her hands for a moment, gathering both her thoughts and her courage. 'I…I wanted to know why you did it, Neji-Nii-San. Why would you want to die for me, and for Naruto?'

'it is as I said then. You were willing to lay down your life for Naruto, just as I was for you, and also for him. Naruto, you were the one we knew could defeat the Ten-tails, so you had to survive so that everyone else would too. My own life was a small price to pay for the shinobi world.'

'it was _not_ a small price, Dattebayo!' Naruto yelled, fists clenched and teeth bared in his anger. 'you shouldn't have done it, dattebayo!'

'then I should have let you die?' Neji asked, eyes narrowing. 'what would that have accomplished? If you had been killed that day in place of me then not one of us would have lived much longer anyway. It was the only way.'

'that's a cop-out and you know it!' Naruto barked. 'don't just spout the same nonsense you did when you died! Tell us the truth!'

'Naruto,' Hinata said, putting a hand on his arm to calm him. 'it's all right.' She looked up to Neji, clearly blinking back tears as she fought the urge to cry. 'Just because I know why you did it, doesn't mean I understand it, Neji-Nii-San. Your life was cut so short, but you chose the path you did, just like you wanted to.' She looked down a little and the tears spilled over. 'but after everything that's happened since the battle, every day, every new thing, I feel more and more guilty that you had to die.'

'Hinata-Sama, I was happy to do what I did, and I knew there was no other way and no going back when I did so.'

Hinata sat quietly for a while. at length, she murmured, 'All I wanted was for you to be happy, and … w-well, I feel like I took your chance at happiness away. If I had not-'

'Do not say that. It was my _choice_ to sacrifice myself for you two. I wanted you to be happy as well, and I knew you would be if you had Naruto. I told him as much. There is no need for you to put yourself down like that.' Throughout his little speech he kept eye contact with his cousin as tears rolled down her cheeks. Her eyes dropped to her lap and Naruto put an arm around her shoulders to comfort her, looking concerned. He knew how hard this was for her.

She looked back up at Neji after a moment and tried to speak through her tears, 'Nii-San, I'm sorry. It's not fair that while Naruto and I were finally starting to get closer, you were left by yourself beneath a tombstone. If I had known about Tenten,' she paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath and wiping her eyes, 'If I had known you were-' she sniffled, taking another deep breath, '-were going to be a father, I would have gladly traded places with you.'

Her words silenced the room. Naruto had nothing to say and Neji's thoughts were scrambled. Of course there was no way he could have known then that this would happen, but it had not even occurred to him of the possibility. If he had known that Tenten would be carrying his child, would he have made a different choice? He was troubled that the answer did not supply itself. Of course he would still have protected Hinata, but perhaps he would have found another way to do it? What if there truly had been no other way, as he had said earlier? Knowing he would leave his future child fatherless, could he still have done as he did? He wasn't certain, and it troubled him greatly. Something dripped onto his fist, which was clenched on his lap, and he noticed his vision was blurred. _What-?_ He blinked, and more tears fell, hitting his fists and pant legs. He lifted his hand, staring in shock at the wet patch left by his tear. Finally, his thoughts straightened out again, and he shook his head.

'no, Hinata-Sama. No matter what, I would not have let you trade places with me. Perhaps, if I had known the future, I would have found a different way to protect you, but what's done is done. And,' he added, looking to Naruto and back to his cousin, 'as someone has so thoughtfully brought me back to life, it hardly matters now. I will be able to raise my child with a clear conscience that I did everything I could to keep my cousin and my best friend safe.' He let out a sigh, wiped his eyes, and stood from his cushion. 'there is one more thing I must ask of the both of you.'

'yeah, what is it?' Naruto asked, getting to his feet as well, and pulling Hinata with him. Neji gave a rather tearful smile.

'I want an invitation to your wedding.' Hinata turned red and hid partly behind Naruto and partly behind one of her fists, though he knew she was smiling behind that. Naruto gave a big, goofy grin. 'of course! It wouldn't be right without you, dattebayo.'

Neji wiped at his eyes again to dry them completely, and spread his arms in offer of a hug. 'come here,' he said to Hinata, and, after a moment's hesitation, she stepped away from her boyfriend and ran the three steps or so to tightly embrace her cousin, tears flowing again. 'don't ever blame yourself for my decision, Hinata,' he told her before letting her go. 'let go of your guilt, both of you. It was not your fault.' As he finished speaking, he heard the signal for the evening meal. 'if you don't have plans for dinner tonight, I'm sure you're welcome to join us.'


	21. Chapter 22

The next day, Neji was up early to meditate. He was going to go to his uncle after breakfast and have his Cursed seal reapplied, something Hiashi still did not wish to do. He took another deep breath and tried to settle his mind. He knew how important it was for this to be done, and he also knew how opposed everyone in the main house was to his decision. He let the breath out slowly as he sat on his side of the bed with his eyes closed. A stir from beside him made him open his silver-white eyes and look over at Tenten as she woke.

'what are you doing up so early?' Tenten asked as she sat up and stretched. Neji gave a non-committal shrug, shifting and getting to his feet before reaching a hand out to her.

'it's not so early now, so let's get ready for breakfast.'

Once breakfast was over, Neji headed out of the dining room without Tenten, who hurried to catch up, catching his arm after a few steps. 'Neji, where are you going?' she demanded, a worried scowl lowering her brows. He turned to her and put a hand on her cheek reassuringly.

'it's time for me to get my cursed seal back. I'm sorry, Tenten, but it's something I must do alone. You can wait out here for me; it won't take long.' With that, he gave her a small kiss on the forehead and let her go, turning and walking into a room where Hiashi sat, already waiting for him.

Hiashi looked up when Neji entered, gesturing to a cushion about 2 feet in front of him. 'this is your last chance to reconsider, Nephew,' the Hyuuga clan leader said as Neji took the seat in front of him. 'everyone would be fine with your decision.'

'I will not reconsider. This is the right thing to do.' Determination shone clearly in Neji's eyes and rang in his voice. Hiashi sighed in resignation.

'then I must warn you- I spoke to the elder yesterday, since this situation is without precedent. He warned me that the reason you are always marked as children is that it hurts more to apply the seal the older you are. Neji, as you are an adult, it will be just as painful as if I were punishing you.'

Neji listened quietly to all of this, then nodded slowly. 'I understand. I will endure it, it must be done.'

Hiashi gave another, reluctant sigh and reached forward to begin the seal. 'as you wish.'

Tenten was sitting a few doors down from the room Neji had entered, basking in the late spring sun and waiting for him to come out and get her.

'AAAAAAAHHH!'

She jumped to her feet at the horrible, nearly inhuman wail of pain and scrambled toward the source of the noise as it subsided. She shoved open the door to find Neji curled in the fetal position on the floor, a hand clasped tightly at each temple and his green Cursed Seal of Heaven glowing slightly as it was freshly applied, and Hiashi kneeling over him. Tenten drew the first logical conclusion that supplied itself (that Neji's uncle was trying to hurt him) and moved to attack with a sharp, furious cry of 'NO!'

Hiashi jumped to his feet, realising who it was just in the nick of time and only blocking her attack instead of fighting back. With the clan leader away from Neji, she turned back to him, finding bandages where Hiashi had dropped them and kneeling down by her husband's head, lifting it gently as he started to relax again, coming back to his senses.

'Tenten? I…told you not…to come in,' he panted as she gently began to wind the bandage around his head.

'if you honestly think I could sit by and listen to you scream in pain, you aren't the genius people say you are.' She finished tying the bandage and Neji found the strength to sit up again, not looking Tenten in the eye. 'what's wrong?'

'I…I never wanted you to have to see me like that.' His demeanor at this point could best be described as ashamed. 'our child won't be in such pain when they are marked, but if they rebel, much the same thing will happen.' He looked up in surprise at her gentle hand under his chin.

'Neji, I knew when this all started that our child would bear the same mark you did, and I was willing to let them go through with that. It isn't any different now. I can't empathize with them, but that's what you're for. You'll teach them well and they'll never have to feel the seal's pain like you did.'

He offered a small smile, grateful for her confidence in him, and Hiashi, feeling it now safe, stepped over and helped Neji to his feet. 'I am sorry for the pain you suffered,' he said, and it seemed he was apologising for far more than just the re-branding.


	22. Chapter 23

The remainder of May passed with little incident for both Neji and Tenten. As she had predicted, once word got around the village that he really was alive again, everyone wanted to see for themselves, especially anyone he'd ever personally worked with on missions. This caused no small end of trouble to him, and for nearly a week after their excursion he stayed around the Hyuuga estate sulking and wanting his newfound fame to go away. Things settled back to normal by the time June rolled around and Neji was starting to look forward to the midsummer festival. 5 weeks ago, Tenten hadn't thought she could possibly get any bigger. Now, she knew just how wrong she was, as you could run a measuring tape across her enormous belly straight down the middle from top to bottom and get a whopping 37 centimetres. She hadn't even measured that big _around_ before. Not even at the hips! She was only 11 days from the due date Tsunade had given her, so by rights the baby could come at any time, not that she told Neji that. She didn't want him hovering worriedly over her every second of the day.

She woke up the morning of the midsummer festival, June 21st, to find him already awake and staring at the closet meditatively. Tenten thought this rather odd, since Neji was the last person in all of konoha that could be described using the word "vain". 'trying to pick what to wear?' she teased, making him turn and give a small smile, looking back to the closet after a moment and pulling something out.

'not for me, no. I was wondering if we had something that would still suit you or if we'd better borrow something from one of my cousins instead.' The item he'd pulled from the closet was a vibrant light pink yukata with cherry-blossom designs, a fairly common style. It was, as all kimono, sewn from straight, flat panels, and the only place it really fit was at the shoulders. You made the rest fit with a complicated system of ties and folds hidden underneath the massive decorative sash that went along with the outfit. Tenten's massive belly meant that there would be far less overlap on the front panels than there normally was.

'it…would probably be better to borrow something,' Tenten admitted somewhat reluctantly. The easiest option was to wear a kimono a size or two bigger to cause more overlap in the front, and just tuck the longer bits under the obi like normal. The next best was to get one that someone had added fabric to especially for a pregnant woman so it would still fit like normal. Neji nodded and put away the yukata, pulling out another which was far plainer. This one was his, and he set it out before heading for the door. He paused to see Tenten still sitting in bed.

'are you coming, Tenten? I can't get you a kimono that fits if you stay here. We'll need your measurements.' She gave a grumble and clambered to her feet, rubbing an eye and plodding over to take Neji's hand so he could lead her wherever he was going.

After a few people's worth of asking around, they managed to locate a few yukata, most notably one sewn for a pregnant woman with very similar color and design to the one Neji had pulled from the closet earlier that morning. After a leisurely breakfast, they got changed and took some snacks along while they went out on the town for the day to enjoy the festival.

There were tons of things to do along the main market lane of the town, and it seemed like all their friends were there as well. Lee in a yukata was a sight Tenten hadn't expected to ever see, and even kiba cleaned up well on a festival day, apparently. The air was pleasantly warm, with a breeze, but the sun was hotter than they had expected, and after a while Tenten and Neji started looking for shade and popsicles to cool off. Once they finally found a shaded bench and settled down, the pleasantly warm air made them both a little sleepy. Unfortunately for Tenten, a little sleepy was all it took anymore, and Neji looked over in surprise as her head flopped lightly onto his shoulder. He gave a light huff of amusement and just sat for a few minutes, knowing she'd wake up again soon. He took the opportunity to get a closer look at her. He hadn't believed it possible that Tenten could be more beautiful than when she fought alongside him in the war. But here was the truth in front of him- pregnancy really did make a woman glow with some unknown inner light. Maybe it was holding so much life in one body until the baby was born, or maybe something else, but it hardly mattered. She was beautiful and he was very, very lucky in a great many ways. A few minutes later, she stirred, blinking her deep grey eyes open and giving a small, sheepish smile.

'should we go back to the estate?' Neji suggested, returning her tiny smile with one of his own, silver-white eyes shining.

'no, I'm fine. It's pretty hot out here though. Maybe we should stay in more of the buildings until the sun goes down.'

'all right, sounds good to me,' Neji replied, getting up and helping Tenten to her feet. They spent the rest of the afternoon wandering in and out of all the various shops looking at all the specialty items on sale that week and talking with their other friends, who all had much the same idea. Finally, after sundown, they all went outside to watch a small fireworks display.

'today was a lot of fun. It was sort of like a date, after the fact,' Tenten said, with a tiny giggle at the end with her realisation.

Neji hmmed thoughtfully. 'I suppose it was. That's all right- it's not as if we really got the chance before, did we?'

'no, we didn't. but there was a small war going on at the time.' That acute downgrading of the situation startled a laugh out of her husband, who looked at her as if to make absolutely certain she was kidding.

'just a small one?'

'well, it was up until I had to go on fighting alone.' Tenten's words sapped the happiness right out of the situation. Neji didn't know what to say to that. She suddenly looked close to tears as they neared their room.

'Tenten…you don't blame me for that, do you?' Neji looked concerned for her, and she shook her head.

'if not you, who should I blame? Naruto for needing protection? Hinata for providing it? The rest of the Hyuuga clan for not being enough to deflect all the attacks?...Myself, for surviving when you didn't?' as she went down the list, she began to cry, voice breaking on her last sentence, and during her speech she had stepped away from Neji, letting go of him. He reached out to her again, gently wrapping her in his arms and letting her cry for a moment.

'if you are going to blame anyone, then blame me. It was my choice.' She let out a loud sniffle and he patted her gently. 'obviously, I never knew all this would happen. But I'm glad it did…even the bad things.'


	23. Chapter 24

AN: the one we've all been waiting for!

Tenten was sitting on the bed reading a book on the afternoon of july 2nd, with Neji sitting beside her with a book of his own. She winced at a pain in her stomach, at first chalking it up to the baby stretching. Then, when it subsided and came again a little stronger, she realised it was probably something a bit more noteworthy. She set the book down and winced again, catching her husband's attention. 'Tenten? Is something wrong?' she shook her head as the cramp subsided again.

'no, I think it's just another false pang.' There had been a few false alarms over the past week, from a few to several minutes' worth of contractions that ultimately did nothing. She assumed this was much the same thing.

'are you sure?' Neji scooted over closer, setting his own book aside and feeling Tenten's forehead. 'you're cold. Do you want a blanket? It's almost time for lunch, too. we should go if you're up to it, or I can bring something back for you.'

Tenten shook her head at his offer. 'I feel fine. And I'm not hungry right now.' That gave her pause- it was true, she wasn't hungry. It had seemed just days before she couldn't possibly get enough to eat, and now she felt full. No, that wasn't it- she felt that it wasn't safe to eat. Her body was telling her not to. That was new. Another contraction hit her, much more insistent than what she was used to from the false pains. Neji's silver eyes widened in fear as Tenten's arms wrapped around her stomach and she gritted her teeth in pain. 'I think this one might be real,' she panted when it was over.

At those words, Neji jumped to his feet, reaching down to help her up. 'can you walk, or should I carry you?' he asked. One arm was already slotted behind her shoulders and under her arms and the other was paused questioningly, ready to scoop under her knees if need be.

'I can walk, I think. We'll just have to stop if it hits again. Tsunade told me we don't really have to worry for hours yet- my body's just getting ready for now.' Neji nodded understandingly, eyes still almost half-crazed with worry, though the rest of his face and his general demeanor was very calm as always. He moved his free arm to across the top of Tenten's chest to provide extra leverage for her to stand. Once she was all the way up he let go with that arm and kept the one across her back for support.

They moved fairly slowly, and had to stop once for another decently painful contraction, but they made it to the hospital in good time. One of the orderlies got them a room and checked Tenten to see if they really were keeping her this time. 'well?' Tenten demanded as the nurse stepped back.

'I'm afraid you're staying, Mrs. Hyuuga- tonight's going to be the night.' Somehow, Tenten was and wasn't expecting that answer- she knew it was going to happen eventually, but at the same time she was unprepared for it now the day had arrived. She glanced over with a stricken look to Neji, who was pacing across the floor, which was very, very unlike him. She couldn't dwell on his odd behaviour for too long, as another powerful pain hit unexpectedly and made her yelp before she shut her mouth.

Neji was in his own little bubble of false reality, unable to accept what was really happening- Tenten had really gone into labor for good this time, and they weren't leaving the hospital until their child was born. He paced the floor until a yelp of pain snapped him from his worried cocoon of thought and he moved to her side in an instant, pulling her hand from the bedsheet and taking it in his own, letting her squeeze his fingers for the minute or so the pain lasted. He was astonished at the amount of pain that Tenten seemed to be in. he had been in his own fair share of pain- for heaven's sake, he'd _died_!- but it didn't seem to hold a candle to this. And he remembered overhearing Tsunade tell her it would only get steadily worse for the next several hours. How could she endure that? How could any woman?!

There was a good half hour each between the next two contractions, then twenty minutes, then 18. Then fifteen. As the afternoon went on, they grew both closer and a little more painful each time. Once they got closer than twenty minutes, Neji stopped pacing altogether and just took a seat alongside Tenten's bed, keeping hold of her hand in case she needed anything. They seemed to ease up around dinnertime, but another check by the nurse confirmed that they weren't really slacking off, just doing their job slowly, since this was Tenten's first child.

It was well past sundown before they started to ramp up again, suddenly going from twenty minutes apart to five. Neji winced in sympathy and a bit of his own pain as she crushed his hand in her own pain, panting whenever the contraction eased up even a little. This was the "transition" stage, and apparently the most painful part of the whole process. As long as Tenten could make it through this, she would manage just fine. 'you're doing wonderfully,' he encouraged her, wiping her forehead with a cool cloth between labor pains. 'not too much more and it will ease up. You can make it through.' Tenten gave a little nod, not bothering to speak since she was just trying to get enough air. She was supposed to breathe through the pain but it felt impossible. The contractions finally slowed and mellowed out again a little after midnight, the sign that transition was over and the baby was completely ready to be born. The orderly came and checked on Tenten again around then and left to fetch a doctor, who came in looking tired. 'well, good news and bad news,' the doctor muttered to herself.

'what's that mean?' Neji demanded, still clinging tightly to Tenten's hand.

'good news, you're going to have a baby when this is through. Bad news, we don't know if that's going to take half an hour or 5. First children are always the most unpredictable.' Neji relaxed as the physician explained. _I can live with that. But can Tenten really hold out for another five hours if need be? She's tired already_. He glanced worriedly to her, and she gave a small, reassuring smile.

'I'll be fine, just you watch,' she told him, letting out a sigh that changed to a grunt of pain at yet another contraction.

It wound up being another four hours, putting it at almost five in the morning, before things finally got into motion. The doctor saw what she'd been waiting for (whatever that was, Neji didn't really want to know) and started encouraging Tenten to push as much and as hard as she could. At this point, she was very tired and probably closer to exhausted, but she did as she was told. With a last awful, pained sound that made Neji cringe in sympathy, Tenten lay back flat on the bed, panting and covered in sweat. Neji noticed she had more color than she'd had all night and looked to the window, seeing the sky rosy with the sunrise. Then, rather than hearing birds, his ears caught the most wonderful sound a new father could ever hear- a thin, tiny cry from a newborn baby.

'congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Hyuuga. You have a healthy baby boy.' The doctor quickly cut the baby's cord and diapered and swaddled the tiny infant, then passed him to Tenten, who let go of Neji's hand to cradle their child. The baby's head was covered in dark brownish-black fuzz and his eyes were squeezed shut as he was still crying.

'shh, shh, shh,' Tenten soothed, rocking the baby ever-so-gently and getting him to stop crying after a moment. Neji gently reached over and stroked the fuzz-covered head, marvelling at the new life. At his father's touch, the newborn opened his eyes, which were every bit as pearlescent as his father's were. Both parents beamed with pride at this sight as the baby's eyes fell shut again and he fell asleep as if worn out from the ordeal of being born. Tenten finally looked out the window, seeing the sunrise herself. 'well…perfect timing, Hinohe,' she noted, and Neji gave her a kiss on the top of the head.

'don't ever try to top this for a birthday present,' he murmured to her, and she looked up in surprise, realising that it was, indeed, the morning of July third- Neji's birthday, and now his son's also.


End file.
